Tomorrow
by mangaluva
Summary: 20 years after the death of Naraku, life goes on... but trouble is brewing... Canon "what happened next" story. Though the primary characters are listed as IY and SM, it's really more abotu Inu & co's kids. And a bit of SesshoMaru.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

_**Chapter one**_

_**T**__**wenty years after the death of Naraku**_

_Plink. Plink. Plink. Plink. Plink._

The stone skipped five times across the water's surface before sinking, splashing apart Isamu's thoughts as he guiltily looked up into his best friend's overly perceptive gaze.

"All right," Kazuki said at last, "Which one is it?"

"What?" Isamu asked, genuinely confused.

"I _said_," Kazuki repeated, sitting down next to Isamu and digging around for another stone, "Which one? Don't worry, I'm not gonna slay you. I saw you staring. So c'mon, tell me?"

"What," Isamu asked, "the hell are you talking about?"

Kazuki sighed, blowing out a gust of breath that rippled his overlong fringe. "Do I _have_ to spell it out for you?" He complained. He turned and looked Isamu straight in the eye. "Which. One. Of. My. Sis. Ters. Do. You. Have. A. Crush. On."

Isamu turned bright red, but he couldn't help glancing across the small lake at the girls in question. Kazuki laughed.

"Aha!" He said. "Is it Yuki-ane-san? Please say it's Yuki-ane-san. Because then you two can move away and she'd never have to annoy me again..."

"It's not _Yuki_," Isamu grumbled, and then realized he'd said it. Kazuki just laughed louder, causing the smaller children to pause in their game to stare at them. Isamu turned redder.

"Haruka-ane-san? Yeah, I can actually see that happening," Kazuki chuckled, winding down. "So ask her to dance or something. They'll be a party tomorrow night, y'know. For the new baby."

"It's your poor aunt I feel sorry for," Isamu commented, flopping backwards onto the grass, desperately trying to change the topic. It was a warm summer evening, and they were planning to camp out if the baby wasn't born by nightfall -considering that was the reason they'd been banished from the village in the first place- but now Isamu wasn't sure he wanted to spend that much time with his best friend, who was still grinning.

"Don't think I don't know you're trying to change the subject," he commented. Then he stood and pulled his kimono top off. "Well, if that's the way you want it, let's race! A cold swim would do you good, I think."

Isamu growled under his breath at Kazuki. "Down, you mutt," the boy reprimanded before diving into the water. Isamu pulled off his shirt too and, trying desperately to ignore Yuki's wolf-whistling and Haruka's giggling, dived under the water.

It was a fairly small lake, and he quickly caught up with Kazuki as they swam towards the goal, at the centre of the bottom of the lake. It wasn't really a lake. It was actually a huge crater, which, over the twenty years of its existence, had filled up with rainwater until it had become a more or less permanent feature.

At the bottom of the lake was a well, which added another ten feet or so of depth to the race. As they'd grown up, Kazuki and Isamu had first raced to see who would touch the bottom first, and then to see who could do it fastest. Isamu's golden eyes glowed appreciatively as he sped past Kazuki and into the well.

"Onee-san! Look!" Hitomi yelled, thrusting a bunch of bedraggled flowers under her eldest sister's nose. "Look at the flowers me an' Kiki found!"

"Kiki and I," Haruka corrected gently as Yuki made an exaggerated show of sniffing the flowers. Kiki gave another bunch to Haruka.

"Hark! Listen to the bookworm," Yuki said with a chuckle as she tucked a small white flower behind her ear. "Aren't these pretty!"

"Thank you," Haruka said. "You're so clever! Where did you find these?"

"They're growing near the Goshinboku," Hitomi said, now carefully enunciating her words. Kiki started giggling behind her hands, her ears twitching madly.

"I wonder if you can find even prettier ones?" Yuki challenged, sending the girls speeding off towards the tree again.

"And don't go too far!" Haruka called after them. The god-tree was within sight of the lake, but those two had a knack for getting lost in search of pretty things...

"They didn't hear that," Yuki commented, twisting the more intact flowers into her ponytail. "Still, I bet the boys would love to go hunting for a couple of little lost girls... Get to be the 'big strong men'..."

Haruka laughed as she looked over at the 'men' in question. "Michio and Yoshinori already wage battles of the ego every day... surely you don't want to leave Kiki and Hitomi's safety in their hands..."

"They'd find them, though," Yuki replied, grabbing Haruka's bunch of flowers and starting to weave them into her twin's hair. "They'd compete to see who could find them fastest... and then get into such an argument that it's be up to Ta-chan to lead them home..." True enough, 6-year-old Takumi was certainly far more mature than his ten-year-old brother or twelve-year-old cousin...

"So, are you going to get Isamu to dance with you at the party?" Haruka asked, looking over at the two boys who were talking by the lakeside. Her idiot brother was laughing his head off, which probably had something to do with why Isamu was so red...

"Nah," Yuki said, tying Haruka's ponytail back together and sitting back on the grass. "I mean, he's cute and all... something about those literally puppy-dog eyes..." she cut off to whistle sharply, and Haruka turned and saw it was because the inu-hanyou had taken his shirt off and was diving into the water after Kazuki. She giggled with embarrassment as she got a good eyeful of chest muscle before he disappeared under the water. Cute didn't _quite_ cover it, in her opinion...

"But anyway, said puppy-dog eyes are always on you, _anyway_," Yuki continued. Haruka looked back at her sister and blushed.

"What?" she gasped. "R-really?" that only made Yuki laugh again.

"Hey, at least his love's not unrequited," she commented, which only served to make Haruka blush deeper. She was almost relieved to see that Kiki and Hitomi were far out of sight.

"Michan!" She yelled, trying to fight off her blush by changing the subject. "Yoshi-kun! Like a challenge?"

SesshoMaru shot over the lands, fast and alone. Rin was due soon, so he'd decided to go visit her, maybe meet her new baby... relieve a bit of boredom by growling at InuYasha for a bit...

What had he been searching for, these past twenty years? A purpose, he supposed. He'd never felt so without a direction before. For a long time, he'd sought to find Tessaiga, then to kill Naraku. But then he'd acquired Bakusaiga, and Naraku had died. And he'd ended up alone.

Rin had decided to stay in the village and was now married, with children. She was happy. Jaken had had to return to his clan years back. They had fled their homeland and the forest was torn down and replanted to provide wood. They were presumably hiding somewhere now. Lesser youkai had been dying out rapidly since Naraku. He had killed so many, that those humans who had not seen his wrath had at least heard of it, and now that the wars had ended, the humans had turned their force from each other to the youkai.

Of course, the end of the wars also meant many restless soldiers. SesshoMaru's nose twitched as he caught the overwhelming scent of blood and fire. Bandits...

He'd never liked bandits much, and meeting Rin had only intensified his animosity. In the years he'd wandered without a purpose, he could be sure of one thing... there were always bandits, murdering for fun... it was only fair, really, that he returned the favour.

"It's a little girl," Kagome announced, carefully wrapping the baby in a clean cloth as she handed her back to her exhausted mother. She had every right to be exhausted, really...

"She's quite large. It's no wonder you had such a long labour," the miko commented as Rin smiled wanly and clutched her crying child to her breast. The infant instantly settled down to her first meal.

"Kohaku?" she called out. "Come in and meet your daughter."

Kagome smiled as the now middle-aged taijiya returned to the hut and sat down next to his wife and youngest child. The haunted boy had returned from his training twelve years ago a much more serious young man of twenty, with battle skills that were almost unparalleled. It had been such a relief to see him. He hadn't visited the village once since he'd left. It hadn't taken long for his childhood friendship with Rin to take hold again and grow...

"It's such a beautiful night... what about Tsukiko?"

Kagome jerked from her memories with a smile. There was indeed a shining full moon sailing over the village, so it was only fitting that the newborn's name should be "Moon Child"...

"That's perfect," Kohaku agreed, picking up his now-sleeping daughter. "Do you think we should call the kids back or let them camp?"

"They're probably having fun... there's nothing in the forest that would hurt them, anyway," Kagome agreed, before standing to leave the hut. "I'm going to go get some sleep, myself. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kagome-sama," Rin called after her. Kagome started walking towards the hut she'd lived in for the past seventeen years with her family, but instead gave a muffled gasp as strong arms swept her up into the air and over the forest, to the top of Goshinboku.

"Warn me before you do that," Kagome chided, leaning over to tweak her mate's ear. He patted her still-flat belly in response.

"Pathetic human. You should be used to it by now." InuYasha wrapped his arms around Kagome and looked down at the campfire by the edge of the lake where, despite the fact that it was surely past midnight by now, Kazuki was quietly recounting some gruesome ghost story that he'd probably made up. "More trouble than his bouzo father, if you ask me," the hanyou commented as Kazuki suddenly leapt forward, hands extended like claws, making the girls scream- except Yuki who, true to form, pushed him over. "So what is it?"

"A girl," Kagome said, looking up at the moon. "They named her Tsukiko. Do you think we should tell Yoshinori and Takumi that they have a sister yet?"

InuYasha seemed to be thinking it over before he shook his head. "Nahhh. They're having fun."

Kagome giggled slightly. "Should we tell them the _other_ news yet?"

InuYasha shook his head. "If Isamu don't notice your scent change in the next week, then he's not the pup I raised him to be."

"Awww, the poor boy's just preoccupied at the moment," Kagome said, before settling back into his arms with a yawn. It was a long way to the ground from the top of Goshinboku, but she felt safe in InuYasha's arms. She always had, and knew she always would. Forever.

"Oi, are you sleeping?"

"Mmm-hmm..." Kagome mumbled as she drifted off. "'Night..."

"Keh. Pathetic human."

_Isamu means "Bravery"_

_Kiki means... well, when you hear her given name, the inspiration's kinda obvious. You've probably guessed it already._

_Yuki means "Snow"_

_Haruka means "Scent of Spring"_

_(the idea is that the twins were born on the cusp of winter to spring.)_

_Kazuki means "First of a New Generation"_

_Michio means "Man on the Correct Path"_

_Hitomi means "Beautiful eyes"_

_Yoshinori means "Noble Virtue"_

_Takumi means "Artisan"_

_Ane-ue is a rather archaic way of saying "sister". Something about the character I envisioned for Kazuki involved his addressing his family with such respectful terms... As you'll see, he also uses "Chichi-ue" for father, "Haha-ue" for mother, and "Ototo-ue" and "Imoto-ue" to address his younger brother and sister respectively. I think Takumi and Yoshinori may be that way too, for different reasons. There's so many of them, it'll take a while to flesh out all of their characters._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter one

_**Chapter **__**Two**_

SesshoMaru slowly drifted back to consciousness. Damned bandits. The worst they'd ever used _before_ was flaming arrows… when did they get _that_ cursed thing? Like a handheld explosion… right in his _stomach_…

He grimaced in pain as he tried to move. His entire body felt burned. Still, he could feel himself slowly healing. He opened his eyes.

He couldn't see the worst of the damage because someone had wrapped in tight with bandages. He was lying in one of the few standing huts. He heard a faint murmuring and looked over to the doorway. Several of the village's survivors, mostly women, were watching him suspiciously. The last couple of bandits must have fled after SesshoMaru killed the rest. Even if he _had_ saved their lives, he _was _still youkai, he supposed. So who had saved him? How long had he been asleep…

"Let me through, please! Goodness, you don't have to be so _suspicious_. He only killed the bandits, right? Besides, even if it _is_ an evil youkai, he's hardly in a position to start slaughtering us all with his gut hollowed out, is he?"

The girl's voice had a sharp, commanding quality. It must have been her who bandaged him. He tried to move his head slightly to look at the girl, and grimaced in pain when his damaged muscles protested. Her scent wafted over as she knelt nest to him. Yes, it must have been her who bandaged him. Her scent was vaguely familiar.

"I brought you some water… do you need anything to eat, youkai?"

SesshoMaru was about to shake his head and thought better of it. Instead he said, "Human food does nothing for me. I need only to rest until I can heal. I give you my thanks for bandaging my wounds. The healing process would be far slower without it."

"No, we should be thanking _you_ for saving us from those bandits." The girl insisted. "Now, for everyone's peace of mind, I have to ask: Are you planning to slaughter us all as soon as you are healed?"

SesshoMaru smiled inwardly at the girl's bluntness. It was always rather refreshing to meet a human who didn't consider one a source of absolute terror. "I make a point not to kill humans these days, although filth like those bandits are the exception."

"I suppose you have your reasons. Well, since it looks like saving you isn't going to get my head ripped off, I'll be back occasionally to refresh your water. Let me know it f you need anything else." Her scent faded as she walked away. The villagers, with a few last suspicious looks in his direction, also wandered off. SesshoMaru closed his eyes and drifted off back to sleep.

_I should have asked one of them to get a message to Rin's village,_ he thought. _I wonder if she's had the child yet…_

"A _girl_? Awww, Mama, how could you!"

"I think she's cute," Takumi said quietly, waving Tsukiko's little hands and watching Yoshinori's huff with every sign of amusement. Michio patted his cousin's shoulder pityingly.

"At least it's only a _little_ sister," he said sagely. "_Big_ sisters are the root of all evil."

"What'd you say, _Michan_?" Yuki said menacingly as she walked into the hut. Haruka rushed past her and melted at the sight of Tsukiko.

"_Kawaiiiii!_" She squealed, reaching down to cradle the baby. Kazuki stepped between Yuki and Michio.

"Now, ane-ue," he said seriously, "don't be mad at ototo-ue. After all, the boy speaks the truth." Yuki growled in rage and lunged for her brother, who slipped from her grasp and fled, cackling madly. Isamu watched the chase with a laugh as Hitomi and Kiki rushed in to coo over the new baby.

"You're not the baby any more, Takumi," Hitomi said. "_She_ is."

Isamu looked in on Haruka holding Tsukiko and gulped. He couldn't help thinking what _their_ pup would look like...

_Stop it, baka!_ He told himself. _You don't even know whether or not _she _ likes _you _yet..._

"Something wrong, Isamu?" the hanyou almost jumped as his mother came over to the hut.

"I-I'm alright," he said, switching back to reality. Then he frowned. "Are you all right, mama?" he asked. "Something's off with your scent…" his eyes widened as he realized what the change meant.

"Just under a month. Nice catch, pup," InuYasha said, leaning over the rooftop where he was sitting to scrutinize his son. "So if you can notice _that_, why ain't you paying any attention in practice?"

"Kami above, but that _was_ a disaster," Miroku commented as he stopped by the hut door.

"Who invited you to the conversation, _bouzo_?" InuYasha growled. The monk waved his hand towards the crowded hut.

"It's rather overrun in there," he said before turning back to Isamu.

"Most of 'em are yours," InuYasha said, which only drew a laugh from the monk.

"Indeed," he said. "So why were you so distracted yesterday? I saw that practice… And I think _anyone_ could've parried a straight thrust like_ that_…"

Isamu groaned as all three adults turned to interrogate him. Of _course_ he wasn't paying any attention. Yuki had, giggling evilly, asked him to go swimming with her and Haruka before her twin had turned bright red and dragged her off. His growing infatuation over the older girl was starting to give him sleepless nights, not knowing whether she liked him back or not…

All three adults smiled as he turned bright red under their gaze. Kazuki walked back up to the hut, having apparently lost Yuki.

"Give a guy a break," he said casually. "He's just feeling frustrated 'cos he's in love with ane-ue…" Isamu snarled and leapt on Kazuki, who, with a surprising turn of speed, made off for the forest once more.

"Like father, like son," Sango said, trying not to laugh as she watched Isamu try to maim her oldest son.

"So does ane-ue mean Yuki or Haruka?" Miroku wondered aloud.

"We'll find out at the party tonight, won't we," Kagome said with a smile. "My baby boy in love… I feel old now…"

"So do I, and that's not fair, because _you_ don't _look_ old," Miroku complained. "My _daughters_ look older than you. That's just not fair. Toss a little of the eternal youth my way?"

"I ain't fucking mating with _you_," InuYasha growled, to which the women broke down laughing and Miroku became speechless, a rare sight. Rin and Kohaku suddenly became very focused on Tsukiko, and the rest of the kids looked at their parents as if they were crazy.

Hitomi carefully wrapped Kiki's long black hair around the little bunch of flowers, then pinned it in place on top of her head, directly between her ears. She carefully sat back, and watched with joy as the hairstyle didn't fall apart. "I did it!" She squealed, clapping your hands. "Don't you dare move your head until I get a mirror, Kiki-chan," she said, and sped off. Kiki sat stone still, not even turning her head when she smelled her brother coming near.

"Isn't that pretty," he said, crouching down in front of her. "Did Hitomi do that?" Kiki nodded enthusiastically, then stopped in horror as she tried to look at the top of her head. Isamu chuckled.

"It's alright, you didn't dislodge anything," he said. "Hey, did you notice mama's scent?"

Kiki started nodding again before she could stop herself, then said. "Is she sick?"

"Nope, It just means that you get to be a big sister in nine moon's time." Kiki squealed loudly and jumped up.

"Don't move, Kiki!" Hitomi screamed, rushing over with a mirror.

"Don't worry about it," Isamu said, "you did a great job. The hair looks fine." Kiki admired her hair in the mirror before turning to her friend.

"Guess what!" she said excitedly. "Isamu told me. Mama's having another baby!"

Isamu grimaced against their squealing as he stood to leave. He wished he had dog ears like Kiki so he could flatten them to shut out the high-pitched sound... then again, she didn't have claws, so fair trade...

The girls eventually wound down and Hitomi looked at Kiki with her violet eyes sparkling. "A baby!" she said. "Will it be a boy or a girl, you think?"

"I hope it's a girl," Kiki said. "Then we can do _her_ hair, too! Oh, that reminds me..." she pulled a beautiful little hairpin from her kimono. "Let's put this in your hair. I stole it from mama, but I think it'll look prettier on Hitomi-chan!"

"Calm down, Ane-ue..."

"Give me one good reason not to steal mama's Hiraikotsu and maim you with it."

"I'm still a virgin."

"_Right_. Hiraikotsu it is."

Kazuki ran in front of Yuki, trying to intercept her search for weapons. "Why does everyone want to maim me?"

"Because you're a baka," Yuki fumed, "who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut..."

"All right, all right, I'll keep quiet if you promise not to maim me," Kazuki said with a chuckle.

"But If I kill you, how will you tell anyone?" she pointed out reasonably. Her brother made a face.

"Well, Chichi-ue's a monk and Kagome-oba-san is one of the most powerful miko, ever... surely at least _one_ of them can see ghosts..." He lurched towards Yuki, waving his arms and going "wooooo!" Yuki folded her arms and gave him a formidable glare which reminded him rather worryingly of his mother, and quickly subsided, reminding himself that Yuki's temper could put _InuYasha_ to shame, never mind his mother...

"All right, I'll pay my penance," he swore. "I am your servant, my lady."

Yuki tilted her head to the side and glared at him with a scary little smile on her lips. "We-ee-ee-ell..." she said at length, "You know the party tonight? For Tsukiko?" Kazuki nodded, then grinned.

"Ahh," he said. "Are you planning something for ane-ue and Isamu?"

Yuki's grin widened as she carefully looked around, sensing for eavesdroppers and, finding none, leaned in to whisper to him.

"Here's my plan..."

_I guess the main couple for this fic will be Isamu and Haruka, but really, it's about all of the kids... and SesshoMaru will play a big part too, early on at least, not as much for storyline reasons than for the fact that I just adore him. I'm just posting this first couple chapters for now, since I'm about to go on holiday... More in three or four weeks' time... Until then. I hope you enjoy this, and please review!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_**Chapter Three**_

"_I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him, I'm going to KILL HIM…_"

"Isamu-kun?"

The party had begun all right. Who wouldn't complain about a chance to dance, sing and drink sake? Until Kazuki, baka that he was, had slipped _some_ sort of poison into Isamu's drink and fled into the forest. Maybe it was a stink pellet, come to that, since Isamu's senses had clearly gone to hell for the evening, and now he was in the middle of the forest, unable to tell where the hell Kazuki had gone… and, therefore, unable to give him an ass-beating…

He focused to look at the woman who'd just come out of the bushes. He didn't need to, actually, since he'd instantly recognized her aura.

"Haruka-chan?" he said. "What are you doing here…? For that matter, have you seen Kazuki?"

Haruka swung one of her nunchaku in the air for a second before tucking it back into her obi as a reply. "Yeah, Yuki told me that _someone_ had gone and put stink pellets in your sake…" _Knew it!_ "… and I came to find you since I know how bad you end up when you even _smell_ those things, let alone _drink _them…"

"Thanks," Isamu said gratefully. He followed her down the path until they came out on the lake. He sat down on the bank and, with a groan, stuck his head in the water. Haruka giggled when he snorted water out his nose on resurfacing, turning the noise into a shriek when he shook the water off like a dog.

"Isamu-kun!" she chided, then sat down next to him. "You'd better not let your mama catch you doing that… remember when we were little, and your papa was teaching you to swim, and he shook all over her?" Isamu nodded, having to work very hard not to burst out laughing at the memory. Kagome had been mad, all right, and the first thing she'd yelled was "OSUWARI!" Which had made InuYasha jump about a mile into the air and fall back into the water. It was then that she'd explained about the kotodama rosary that his father always wore, and the curse she'd removed just after they were married, and Isamu had resolved to never, ever piss his mother off…

"Yeah, we all swore to be good just so she'd never put one of those on us," he grumbled. Haruka giggled.

"Never seen Kazuki more serious," she said. Then she sighed, laying back to look at the stars. "Can we stay here for a while?" she asked. "They're going to be doing couple dancing in a bit, and Yuki always insists on being my partner… I swear, if it were up to her, we'd be joined at the hip forever…"

Isamu leaned down to drink a little water in the hope of clearing some of the poisons from his system. "Sure," he said. "Or you could leave Yuki to Kazuki and dance with me…"

He blushed in the darkness, silently praying, and felt his heart soar when she giggled and replied lightly, "sounds good to me. Although I doubt she'll want to dance with the only guy at the party with two black eyes…"

"_Two_?" Isamu whistled appreciatively and, as his head cleared, heard the distant music ending. They were probably setting up for the couple dances. He stood and extended his arm to Haruka. "Shall we, m'lady?" he said, hoping she couldn't see the pink dusting his cheeks in the dark. From the way she tentatively took his hand, however, she was probably blushing as well.

"It would be my honor, m'lord," she said formally and then laughed, the sound expelling Isamu's blush and giving him confidence as he lead her back to the village.

"_And if Kazuki says even ONE WORD…"_

Rin accepted the villager's congratulations with a smile, but it was tight and worried. Kohaku sat next to her and handed her a cup of water- she couldn't drink sake, not while she was nursing. "What's wrong?" he asked her quietly. She sighed at stared up at the sky.

"SesshoMaru-sama…" she said distantly, "He's never been this late… he was always around for at least the _start_ of Yoshinori and Takumi's welcome parties…"

Kohaku put his arm around her shoulders to reassure her. "Maybe he's farther away than usual," he suggested, "Or is still getting a gift…" SesshoMaru's visits were rare, but he always left some gift or treat behind for Rin or the children. There wasn't a lot of strength behind his reassurances, however. It _was_ odd that SesshoMaru was this late…

"He'll come soon," he insisted. "You'll see. He's like InuYasha-sama that way… he always make it just in time."

Rin nodded, but few of her worries, if any, were dispelled.

"How long do you intend to keep that thing around, Kazeko?" her mother berated her.

"_He_, Okaa-san, not _it_," Kazeko said irritably, "and I don't see what the problem is. He saved us all from death… or _worse_." She shivered inwardly, remembering the leering faces and rough grip of the bandits as they'd chased her and the other women of the village.

"It's a _youkai_, Kazeko," her mother said. "Who's to say it wouldn't have killed us if that bandit hadn't hurt it?"

"Well, _he_ swears that he only harbors ill intent towards bandits," Kazeko said, standing and picking up a bamboo tube, "And I think _he's_ telling the truth."

"Well, you'd better be right," the woman said. "In any case, it can't stay long. You know you're father's been promoted to a captain in the wars against youkai in the south? If he comes home to find his _daughter_ hiding one of those things…"

"I _understand_, Okaa-san," Kazeko said, filling the tube from the water pail and grabbing some bandages, "And for the last time, _he,_ not _IT!"_ She flicked away the door covering and left the house.

"It's all well and good to _say_ that," her mother called after her, "But does it even have a name?"

Kazeko kept walking, although mentally she paused. He _did_ have a name, didn't he? She'd have to ask so she'd stop thinking of him as "The youkai who saved our hides"…

She was surprised to see him sitting up a bit as she entered the hut.

"Ohayou Gozaimasu," he said, greeting her with a nod. She did likewise.

"Ohayou," she replied. "Let's have a look at that wound."

She peeled back the bandages and stared in fascination. "Um, not to sound disgusting," she said "but… I can see your guts. Seriously."

"Another reason why eating is not good for the healing process," he commented. Still, it wasn't bleeding any more, which was a relief. She started rewrapping it with clean bandages.

"It's still disgusting, youkai," she muttered, then looked back up at him. Her breath caught to find him staring at her with a distant look in his eyes. "Wh-what?" she stammered. He seemed to realize that she'd noticed him and looked away.

"It's nothing, really," he said quietly. "It's just… you look a little like someone I used to know. She died a long time ago."

"Sorry to hear that," Kazeko said, tying off the bandages and leaning back. "There. Oh, yeah… that reminds me." She looked back up at the youkai's face. "What's your name, youkai? I don't want to always be referring to you as "the youkai"…"

He stared at her for a second, then a slightly amused light entered his eyes as he formally introduced himself. "I am Lord SesshoMaru of the Western Realm," he said. "And you? Unless I must always refer to you as "The human girl"…"

"SesshoMaru-sama, eh? Pleasure to meet you." she said, with a slight bow. "My name is Kazeko. "Child Of The Winds"… apparently there was a gale blowing when I was born."

This time, she didn't catch SesshoMaru's faraway look. _Wind_…

"Isn't that sweet!" Kagome exclaimed, touching InuYasha's arm and motioning to the dance, where Isamu and Haruka had taken the lead. "I guess it was Haruka, then." InuYasha watched the two dancing, and took in the positively euphoric look on his son's face.

"Keh. I guess she'll do," he conceded.

"She'll _do_?" Sango said incredulously. "Watch it when you talk about my daughter, or I'm borrowing Hiraikotsu back from Yuki…" Sango had given the girl the weapon three years ago at the conclusion of her training, but InuYasha knew better than to think that just because Sango _didn't_ fight anymore meant that she _couldn't_…

"Sango, my darling," Miroku said, appearing beside his wife, "enjoyable though it is to watch you scare InuYasha, should we not take the example of the youth?" he held out his hand to her in an invitation to dance. With a smile- and a warning glare back over at InuYasha- she took it, and they disappeared into the crowd of dancers. InuYasha shivered, then turned to his mate with a grin. "Well, Kagome?" he said. "Like to put those old-timers to shame?"

"Coming from a hanyou who's 170?" Kagome asked incredulously, but she joined him too, dancing through the night, till the bonfires faded in the light of dawn.

_I'll just straighten out who's kids are who. You might have picked up on Isamu and Kiki being InuYasha and Kagome's kids (I've referred to Isamu as Inu-hanyou and I think I've mentioned Kiki's ears), Yuki, Haruka, Kazuki, Michio and Hitomi are Miroku and Sango's, and Yoshinori, Takumi and Tsukiko are Rin and Kohaku's (I think I may have mentioned that when Tsukiko was born) I know they're a little tough to all keep track of, but I'm hoping that once I've got their personalities and roles in the story set, it'll be a little easier._

_In case I haven't stated the ages yet, Yuki and Haruka are 19, Kazuki is 17, Isamu is 16, Michio is 12, Yoshinori and Kiki are 10, Hitomi is 9 and Takumi is 6. Taking the third movie timeline, InuYasha would be roughly 170 now (not counting the years he was sealed), Kagome would be about 36, Sango about 37, Miroku about 39 and SesshoMaru, although his age is never stated, would be something over 300 by my guess.__ Rin will be about 28, and Kohaku will be 32. I'd estimate Shippo to be about Rin's age, maybe a little younger. Kagome does look younger, and because I don't much like writing about the whole "marking" thing that has come up in fandom, I'm just going to say that being mated to a youkai extends a human's lifespan. No blood involved._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_**Chapter Four**_

Isamu lay contentedly in the branches of Goshinboku, listening to the soft rustle of the leaves around him. Last night, he'd danced for hours with Haruka, despite the loud music and laughter, the harsh scent of fire and sake. Combined with the lingering after-effects of the stink pellet he'd drunk, he now had a splitting headache...

Still, he grinned as he remembered the happy smile on Haruka's face as they danced, her light laughter that he could always hear no matter how loud the music, how _right_ it had felt just to hold her...

"_Worth the headache_", he decided.

"OHAYOU, ISAMU!" Kazuki bellowed, promptly screaming like a small girl when Isamu lashed out in pain and knocked him off of the branch. Kazuki landed on the branch below in a manner that made Isamu wince.

"Damn it, Kazuki," Isamu complained, shielding his ears. "I shoulda shredded you, although I think you're in pain enough..."

"Damn straight," Kazuki panted, hauling himself into a more comfortable position on the branch. One eye had turned yellow already, but the other was still purple and swollen. "All right, I've paid for my sins," he said, holding his hands up in mock deference. "So, what happened when Yuki went looking for you in the forest? Anything dirty? Do tell." Isamu looked down incredulously at him.

"Who do you think I am? _You_?" he said in shock. "Of course not. I had to dunk my head in the lake to wash off some of the effects of that damn pellet, then we came back and danced. Why, what did _you_ do?"

Kazuki grinned pervertedly. "Weeeeeell..."

"Let me rephrase the question," Isamu said, sniffing the air. "_Who_ did you do? Is that why you're here? In case Otou-san smells you and tells your father?"

"Chichi-ue, given his youth, holds no fears for me," Kazuki insisted, still grinning. "_Haha-ue_, however..."

"Yeah, I get it," Isamu grumbled. "I'd take a few swims, if I were you. Hentai."

Kazuki laughed as he jumped off the branch, heading down the tree. "You youkai may know your mate on sight, but I'll never know when I've met the perfect woman until I've investigated every... _aspect_ of her." Laughing obscenely, he strolled off to the lake. Isamu leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes. He'd often heard his father say that Kazuki was worse than his father, considering Miroku had never _actually_ had any woman take up his "offer" except Sango. At least the girl, judging by the smell, had dumped him fairly quickly... that may explain the second black eye, come to that...

"_I can't wait to see,"_ Isamu thought with a yawn, _"The woman who can finally nail that idiot down..."_

Captain Yamazaki watch without remorse as the hut burned, listening to the screams inside. He raised his arm as a signal to the soldiers, who loaded their new guns and aimed them at the house. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of energy, and a man rushed out, his eyes glowing red. The captain smiled and dropped his hand, and the gunmen fired, their bullets tearing through the youkai. It howled and then dropped to the ground. Women screamed from inside the house and a couple ran out, calling to the dead man, but they too were shot down by the second row of gunners. Yamazaki drew his sword and motioned for several of the men to follow him behind the house. A large crowd of villagers had gathered, some looking approving at the flushing out and exterminating of youkai, some looking horrified. One woman was sobbing, her husband struggling to hold her back.

"You can't do this!" she screamed. "Youkai or not, they were good people! They've lived here a long time! I beg of you, don't kill the children-" her husband covered her mouth and dragged her away. Yamazaki moved on to the back of the house. So there were children, eh? Perhaps they'd escaped out the back...

As he came to the back of the house, he saw it- the broken door, and the broken tree branches and fallen leaves that showed a hurried escape through the forest. He shook his head and returned to the front. He knelt down by the dead bodies. In death, their spells and false images had fallen away, showing the vivid orange of their hair and the black stripes across their skin. He motioned to a scribe.

"Tiger-youkai," he said. "Three killed, but two escaped. They seem to have headed north. We're heading in that direction anyway, so we'll probably get them." Then he stood and faced the crowd. "My good people!" he called. "Today you have seen how easily evil spirits can hide themselves among us, as if they are human. But never forget that they are not. They are youkai, and we will exterminate them wherever we find them, to make this land safe for you!" Many of the people cheered this speech, but some still stared, in grief or horror, at the three bodies. As a breeze blew through, they collapsed into dust and blew away.

Kazeko stared in some horror at the letter her mother had gleefully handed to her.

"Your father's campaigns are going so well!" She said happily. "They've got a few monks working with them to flush out the youkai hiding in towns, as if they're people. Isn't it terrible how good their disguises are? Why, there could be one in _our_ village and we'd never know it!" She glared over at the hut where SesshoMaru was. "Well, aside from that one."

Kazeko walked over to the hut, rereading the letter. It went on about the numbers of youkai found and destroyed, and the direction of the campaign. They were moving back north...

"Ohayou, SesshoMaru-sama," she said distractedly as she entered the hut. She was still reading the letter with worry.

"Ohayou Gozaimasu," He greeted her. He frowned as he noticed her preoccupied air. "Is something wrong?"

"It's my father..." she said sadly. "He's leading a campaign against youkai in the south. They're flushing out families in towns that are actually youkai and killing them..." She looked at him. She'd noticed that he wasn't given to showing much emotion, but now he looked faintly horrified.

"Slaughtering the peaceful youkai?" he said, the horror even showing in a vague tone in the voice. Kazeko nodded sadly.

"I don't get it," she said. "I mean, if they're living in towns, then they're not exactly people-killers, are they? But Otou-san insists that it's some nefarious plot to infiltrate human society and kill us all..." she snorted in derision, then looked down at the letter again. "He's even killing the children..." she said sadly. She looked back up as SesshoMaru grunted. He was sitting up and trying to stand. He was a fast healer, but he couldn't _possibly_ be healed already...

"Lie down!" she said sharply. "You're not healed yet!"

"Healed enough," he said, the calm tone of his voice returning. "But I must pass on the message to the youkai in the south that they must leave. Those wild youkai who will attack the armies choose their own fate, but the peaceful youkai must not be allowed to die."

"And neither must you, so _lie down_!" Kazeko said again. "Why does it have to be you?" she said. "What are you, the youkai emperor or something?"

"I am well known as one of the most powerful youkai," he said, stilling but not lying down. "If I send out a warning, they will obey. There are so many youkai who only want a peaceful life. It's the little human in all of us."

"What?" Kazeko said. "You're all hanyou or something?" SesshoMaru shook his head, finally lying back on the pallet.

"The first youkai were born of strong human emotion, centuries ago," he said. "That's why strong emotions have the power to affect us, and enough humans felling the same emotion will affect us too. So many humans are feeling peaceful now, at the end of the wars, it's affecting us as well. Even our own emotions can help or hinder us. Look." He peeled back his bandages and Kazeko stared at the wound. He healed quickly, sure, but it was even faster now. She could visibly see skin growing and knitting together. "I have been seeking a purpose for a long time now. All I have found is that, out of respect or fear, the youkai will obey me- particularly the peaceful ones. Thus, I have a duty to ensure their safety. I must order them out of the southern lands. We must find a place that the armies will not search. The desire to protect is so strong that my healing powers are greatly accelerated. I will have healed sufficiently enough to travel by nightfall. If nothing else, this gives me a purpose to work towards."

Kazeko sat back, still staring at the wound. "Wow," she said softly. Then she stared back at the letter. "It is probably good that you are leaving soon," she said finally. "My father will be riding up alone to visit us before returning to his campaign. He will be here in just under a moon. It will not be safe for you when he comes."

"Or you," SesshoMaru said. Kazeko knew what she meant. If anyone let slip that Kazeko had _saved_ a youkai's life...

"Whatcha doing, Yoshi?" Michio said. Yoshinori looked up from the plants he was uprooting.

"Miroku-oji-san said she'd teach me how to make ink," he said. "I just need to find enough of these plants."

"I'll help," Michio volunteered, making for another patch of the plants a little further down the path. "Why do you want to learn to make ink, anyway?"

"It's for Ototo-chan," Yoshinori said. "He was playing with a little spill of oji-san's ink the other day and drew a really pretty picture of a bird. I think he likes to draw, so I'm making him colored ink."

"Wow," Michio said. "So what color does this one make?"

"Red," Yoshinori said, and then showed him another plant. "And this one's blue. You have to boil them, he said."

"Oh, there's some more over here," Michio pointed out, reaching for the plants.

"Besides," Yoshinori said, "I'm hoping he'll make a pretty picture for Haha-ue to cheer her up. She's been really sad and worried since the party."

"Why's that?" Michio asked, leaning back to look at his cousin. Yoshinori frowned.

"Maybe it's because SesshoMaru-sama didn't come," he said. "He came when Takumi was born. I remember. He brought me a toy."

"Well, I hope he comes soon, then," Michio said. "Hey, this one stained my fingers!"

"Ooooh," Yoshinori said, his mother's worries forgotten, "That's the green one! Miroku-oji-san said they didn't grow around here!"

"Let's go find some more!" Michio said excitedly, and ran off down the path.

"I bet I'll find more than you!" Yoshinori hollered, following.

_Yeah, I decided that, given both Kohaku and Rin's tendency towards polite speech patterns, Yoshinori and Takumi will speak like that too. Tsukiko probably will too._

_Oh, and Kazuki doesn't do it because of his upbringing. __It's just the way he is._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_**Chapter Five**_

"Kiki, have you seen my pearl hairpin?" Kagome asked, wandering out of the hut.

"No, mama," Kiki squeaked, but the sudden involuntary flattening of her ears gave her away.

"_Kikyo_..." Kagome said menacingly.

"Busted, Kiki-chan," Isamu said as he walked into the hut. Kagome only ever used his sister's full name when she was really pissed off. Habit, he supposed...

"What's the pup done now?" InuYasha said, following Isamu over to the hut, but lingering by the door instead of going in.

"Kikyo," Kagome said again, "Where is my hairpin?"

"Um..." Kiki looked up at her mother and deflated. "I gave it to Hitomi-chan, mama. When we were doing each other's hair. I'll go get it back now."

"Good girl," Kagome said, tweaking her daughter's adorable little puppy ears- something she did at every opportunity, considering how embarrassed InuYasha got when she tweaked _his_ in public...

"In future, _ask_ before you borrow my things," Kagome said, "and maybe I'll let you use them. Now go get the hairpin, and when you come back we'll have dinner."

The girl scurried off, ears still drooped. Kagome walked into the hut and slapped away Isamu's hands as he reached for the rice cooking over the fire. "Wait until your sister returns," she admonished.

"But I'm _hungry_!" Isamu complained. InuYasha growled at him.

"Patience, pup," he said. "What are you, five?" he suddenly stopped and turned, sniffing the air slightly.

"What is it?" Isamu asked, following suit. Then his mouth dropped. "What a blood-scent!" he said. "Hey, isn't that-"

InuYasha was already out of the door, watching SesshoMaru descend into the village. InuYasha covered his nose. "What the hell did you do, chop off your arm again?" he growled. SesshoMaru was pale but steady as he walked towards Rin's.

"Silence, baka," he said calmly. "You and the miko had better come. I have grave news." InuYasha frowned at his tone. What was so serious that SesshoMaru would actually admit that he could make a contribution?

Kazeko scrubbed the last of the bloodstains from the pallet and walked from the hut. "There," she said, "Now that hut's free for use." There were several families whose huts had yet to be rebuilt, but none of them made a move towards the one where SesshoMaru had been. "What's wrong?" she asked, frowning. The villagers looked at each other before one elder hesitantly spoke up.

"We daren't move into a youkai's home, Kazeko," he said. "Ain't none of use'll be safe usin' it 'till a priest come purify it." Kazeko almost growled in annoyance.

"Then stay sleeping on the ground," she said. "SesshoMaru-sama is no danger to use." She stomped back home, fighting with her seething temper. He'd saved them! And just because he was a youkai, they all assumed that he was evil! Even the "peaceful ones", as SesshoMaru-sama had called them. The youkai who had no desire to fight. They just wanted peace to raise their families, like anyone.

"There's supposed to be an elderly miko living in the next village over," Kazeko's mother commented as she re-entered her home. "Perhaps someone will go fetch her. I'm certainly glad you got it to leave, Kazeko. We shouldn't be _helping_ those things. Besides, you're seventeen now; you should be looking for a husband, not healing _youkai_! What man will want a youkai-lover, I shudder to see..." Kazeko's temper boiled over again.

"_He_, not_ it_, Okaa-san," she said through clenched teeth. "He left because he was healed, I didn't chase him away. And any man who can't see that SesshoMaru-sama wasn't evil, just a person in need like any of us, then he isn't worth marrying!" She stormed back out of the hut again, ignoring her mother's calls and dire warnings, before she really lost it. She wandered down the forest path to the edge of a little cliff. It only perhaps twenty feet up, looking over another path heading south. She sat on a boulder by the edge, staring to the north and quietly seething. SesshoMaru-sama's friends lived further north, he's said, in a human village that accepted the youkai and hanyou who lived there. She dropped her head onto her knees. _"Wouldn't it be wonderful_," She thought, "_to live in such an accepting place..._"

Rin turned pale when she saw SesshoMaru's injuries. Despite his accelerated healing process, his stomach still bore a strong resemblance to some small animal that had gotten trapped in a blender. In Kagome's opinion, anyway. No-one else actually knew what a blender _was_...

"What happened?" Kohaku said, staring in some horror at the injury.

"I came across some decommissioned army that had turned to banditry," SesshoMaru said. "They had new weapons. I thought they'd just thrown a rock at me until it exploded."

InuYasha growled again. "Damn it," he said. "As if there weren't enough bandit hordes around, now they're getting that bastard Renkotsu's old toys..."

"Renkotsu had a hand cannon, but he never had anything like this," Sango said. "This is something new."

Kagome suddenly ran from the hut and returned a few minutes later clutching a book of prophecies that she had referred to as the "History Textbook". The book's uncanny accuracy never failed to make them a little uncomfortable, but no arguing it had been useful.

"Early 17th century, I'm sure of it..." she muttered, flicking the pages back and forth. InuYasha looked at the others and shrugged. "Here it is!" she said suddenly. " 'Tokugawa Ieyasu brought over 250 years of peace to the land, but despite the peace huge armies were still maintained for a time and were furnished with new firearms and other foreign weapons, such as crude explosives. It is unknown whether this was to look impressive, if there was warring that continued unrecorded, or if they had some other agenda.' Look, there's a picture of an early type of grenade- that's a small explosive that you can set off and throw a good distance away before it explodes."

"That does look like what they used," SesshoMaru said. "Worse, I have been told that armies are amassing and slaughtering youkai in the south and steadily moving north to wipe out all youkai. They are even attacking the peaceful youkai, those who have integrated into human society with no ill intent. It is intolerable that they should be punished for the actions of lowlifes like Naraku."

"Never known you to care about anyone," InuYasha said boredly, glancing over at Rin. "And those you do, I've never understood why. That's an insult to him, not you, by the way."

"As it stands, I seem to have little purpose beyond ensuring their safety," SesshoMaru admitted, ignoring InuYasha. "They have already killed many and are moving this way. I wonder if there is a safe place for the youkai to stay that would not be searched."

"Well, it says that such military advancement did not take as much hold in Hokkaido, which was largely uninhabited at the time," Kagome said, pointing at the map in case Hokkaido wasn't known as Hokkaido yet. "If you told people to go there, they probably wouldn't be found. There's no-one there to notice the influx of youkai."

"Then I will pass on that warning," SesshoMaru said.

"_Tomorrow_," Rin agreed pointedly. "Invincible youkai or not, SesshoMaru-sama, you still need a bit more rest."

"I have healed sufficiently," SesshoMaru said, though he made no move to leave.

"Not _fully_, however," Rin replied. "You must stay here tonight." SesshoMaru finally nodded in agreement.

"So what're they talking about?" Kazuki asked. Isamu waved a hand at him and leaned back towards the wall.

"Well, they've stopped talking now," Isamu said, "But from what I gather, oji-san got wasted and it's new weapons that immense human armies are using to sweep across the land to kill us all, and our only hope is a little island of kami-forsaken nothingness."

"Nice," Kazuki said. He reached out to grab Kiki as she ran towards the hut, clutching the hairpin. "Whoa there, kid. Let them have their grown-up talk for now."

"But I don't get dinner 'till I give back the hairpin!" Kiki wailed.

"You won't get dinner anyway, 'cos I at everything when Okaa-san and Otou-san left," Isamu deadpanned, and probably would have fooled his sister had his stomach not growled loudly at that point.

"I heard that, pup," InuYasha said, walking past Isamu without looking. "And I didn't have to put my ear to the wall to do it."

Isamu ignored Kazuki's laughing as he followed his father home.

Takumi widened his eyes as he stared at the bowls of colour. Yoshinori laughed in triumph.

"See!" he said as his mother returned to the hut. "Look what I found for Ototo-chan!"

Rin smiled warmly and walked over to the chest where she kept "nice things", as Yoshinori often said. She came back with a writing brush in hand.

"It's the only brush I've got," she said. "Would you like to draw, Taku?"

Taku stared in awe at the brush, then the colors, then the piece of old kimono that Michio had donated as canvas. Carefully, he dipped the brush in the red and started to paint. Yoshinori smiled and stood up.

"I'll be back later," he said. "Michio found fireflies last night, and I'm gonna catch one to bring back!"

"Careful not to crush it," Kohaku commented as his elder son ran from the room. Takumi didn't notice. Rin put a little bowl of water next to him and walked over to Tsukiko, who had woken up grizzling and, Rin knew, would begin to howl if she'd been awake five minutes without food. She was a far more patient baby than her brothers had been...

"I'm glad SesshoMaru-sama's all right- as in, alive," Kohaku said, "but what could that mean, that armies are moving against the youkai?"

"I guess with no more wars, their choices are that or... unemployment," Rin said hesitantly.

"Bandits," Kohaku murmured. "I know how you feel about their kind. It's quite a choice, isn't it? Slaughter of youkai or humans..."

"I'm glad they're not turning to banditry," Rin said, "but the alternative... you heard what SesshoMaru-sama said, what that girl passed on. Families... _children_... it's not right, is it? No matter what species they are..." She looked down at the suckling Tsukiko, over at the painting Tsukiko, and towards the forest where Yoshinori disappeared. "...children shouldn't have to suffer like that."

Kohaku nodded gravely, leaning down to kiss her cheek as he walked over to kneel down next to Takumi. He knew. They both did. They both knew how it felt, as a child, to have your whole world torn out from under you, and how easily it could happen. Kagome's book had said that these were to be times of peace, and after the bloodshed of Naraku's days, that's all any of them really wanted.

Would it ever happen?

_Yeah, Isamu and Kazuki heard 'The Discussion Of Doom', but they're not taking it seriously. They can't believe that it would really happen. After all, despite their age they're still kids in a lot of ways, which I fully intend to eradicate by the end of this fic. That's the point of the fic, really._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_**Chapter Six**_

"Check it out!" Isamu said, walking into his hut. "The stream's full of 'em-" He nearly dropped the bundle of fish he had been holding when his mother barreled past him and knelt by the treeline. His father ran over to her, wrinkling his nose against the acrid stench of vomit.

"Better get 'em out of here, Isamu," InuYasha called. "Damned if they don't look like they'd be good roasted, but your mother's never been able to handle the smell of fish when she's expecting."

Isamu winced at being the cause of his mother's puking fit. "I'll go share 'em with Kazuki's family, then," he called over his shoulder. He sighed as he looked at the armful of fat fish he'd caught. The stream really was thick with them… migratory season, he supposed…

Kazuki's jaw dropped when he saw the fish. "Drop the rice bowl, haha-ue," he called over his shoulder, "Isamu's feeding us tonight… Where'd you _get_ those?" he added, directing the question at Isamu.

"They fell from the sky," Isamu said, unable to resist a chance to needle Kazuki, who just pouted as Sango started skinning a few fish.

"Too bad you had to catch them _now_," she commented, to a "huh?" look from Kazuki.

"Okaa-san can't stand the smell of fish during pregnancy," Isamu answered, "and since she's a good two months along I really don't want to make her puke too much."

"Kazuki, can you do me a favor and find your siblings?" Sango said. "Yuki and Haruka are training, but I don't know where the other two are…"

"Speaking of Haruka…" Kazuki said as they left the hut, "You two've been walking out into the forest every evening for the past couple of weeks. So spill- has _anything_ happened?"

"Kami, I don't think _I'm_ the dog here," Isamu commented, but blushed. "Look, I'll go hunt the forest for Michio and Hitomi, you go to the training field…"

"Don't tell me you two haven't even _kissed_ yet?" Kazuki called after him. Isamu was glad that his friend couldn't see him growing redder.

On the other hand, at least Kazuki was wrong…

"_Isn't that gorgeous?" Haruka sighed, staring up at the full moon. Isamu nodded, but he was staring at her instead. She couldn't help blushing. He suddenly sighed and flopped backwards onto the grass. He seemed to be muttering something under his breath. "Isamu?" she asked, leaning over to look at him. He opened his eyes, a fierce glow igniting in the swirling gold. He reached over and grasped her hand._

"_Haruka…" he said, with the air of one wondering whether the berries he's holding are poisonous or not, but is going to eat them anyway. "For a long time now, I've been wanting to ask you something…" her heart beat faster; she couldn't help it._

"_I really like you, Haruka, more than anyone. Do you… feel… _anything_… for me?"_

_Haruka suddenly got the urge to giggle. "Why do you think I've been inviting you to come on a walk with me every night… alone…?" She was blushing worse than ever now, but… he liked her! And youkai only ever fell in love with…_

_The thought was knocked aside when Isamu sat up, the hand not holding hers around her back, and kissed her…_

"Oi! Daydreamer!" Haruka was knocked out of a happy reminisce by her twin's voice. She and Isamu had both been to shy to tell anyone about their growing relationship yet, although if the look on his father's face whenever Isamu went home was anything to go by, everyone would know soon enough… curse inu-hanyou and their overly sensitive noses…

"What's with the stupid grin?" Yuki asked, although if her own large grin was anything to go by, she already knew. Haruka made a show of struggling with the ties on her exterminator uniform to hide her blush.

"I'm just glad we're getting our own job," Haruka said lightly; they were about to head out to a village some way to the west which was plagued by demon moths, who had taking to eating houses rather than clothes.

Yuki arched an eyebrow but decided to go along with Haruka's bluff. "Yeah, I wish they'd let us go out sooner," she said. "I mean, we're already older than okaa-san was when _she _started slaying… after all, she was the best in her village when she was fifteen!"

"I guess there's been little need for us, with the armies turning on wild youkai," said Haruka, sticking her nunchaku into her belt, "but it still feels a bit over-protective, doesn't it?"

Haruka thought that Yuki had forgotten about their earlier conversation; but as they were mounting Kirara to leave, Yuki said, out of the blue: "So, did he kiss you, then?"

She laughed when Haruka instantly turned bright red, but she smiled.

Kazeko couldn't help frowning as she passed the hut where SesshoMaru-sama had been staying. Even though it had been "purified", most villagers still watched it with some contempt and a new hut was being built for the family that was currently having to live there. It was probably a blessing that her father had put off his return home for a few months until his army had made its way this far north. The hut would be destroyed by then.

She found herself, as she often did, wandering back to the cliff-edge that overlooked the path to the north. She looked back to the south and froze. A girl was walking up the path, clutching a baby of about a year old. They were both thin and filthy, as if they'd been on the road for days-weeks, perhaps. They were also youkai. Even if their vivid striped hair wasn't visible, Kazeko could tell that they were not human. It was just a feeling, like the air around them was different.

The girl suddenly sniffed the air and then stared at Kazeko. She gasped sharply when she saw Kazeko watching them from the ledge and froze, clutching the baby closer to her. _I guess I smell like my father, _she thought wildly. _He must have attacked them…_

She carefully slipped down the stretch of stable, slightly less vertical earth that for want of a better definition was known as the path down the cliff. The girl shrieked and backed further away from Kazeko, one hand raised. Kazeko saw sharp claws extending from her fingers, glinting in the sunlight. She held up her hands in a show of surrender.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," she said quietly. "Were you attacked by the armies in the south?" The girl nodded warily. Kazeko's stomach dropped. Her damned father was attacking _babies_…

Biting back the fury, she said, "I am no enemy of yours. I am… a friend of SesshoMaru-sama's." The inspiration hit her- SesshoMaru had said that some youkai put faith in him because of his power. Perhaps using his name would help this girl trust her. She did lower the hand, although she did not retract her claws.

"You smell like that general," she said accusingly. Her voice was wispy and faint. They must have had nothing to eat or drink for days. SesshoMaru had gone over a week with no food with no ill-effects, but perhaps it was harder on children…

"I know, he's my father," Kazeko said, and noticing the look of terror return to the girl's eyes, waved her hands, saying quickly, "but he's also a bastard- still, what can you do, eh? Look, I know a place where you'll be safe- at least until he gets this far north, but maybe they can protect you…" the babble seemed to have calmed the girl down somewhat, although she did not seem to trust Kazeko yet. "There's a village to the north," Kazeko said, pointing up the path, "Where some friends of SesshoMaru-sama's live. There's humans, and inu-hanyou, and maybe some other youkai- and they accept each other. They live peacefully, accepting everyone for what they are. They will protect you. Look," she added, "I know that you don't trust me and have reason to, but it won't hurt you to at least look. You've got nothing to lose, have you?"

The girl stared at Kazeko for some time, then nodded. "I see this path leading to safety," she said quietly. To Kazeko's questioning look, she said, "I am somewhat clairvoyant… a rather odd trait among youkai, I know, but my parents thought it was a sign of peace to come…" tears began spilling over her cheeks, washing away some of the accumulated filth. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping them away, though Kazeko thought there was nothing for her to be sorry for. "They killed my parents, and my aunt. Akira is all I have left…" she started crying again. Kazeko could see why. Naming a child "Bright, clear dawn"… _They must've really thought the fighting was over,_ Kazeko thought sadly.

"My name is Kazeko," she said.

"Mitsuko," the girl said in reply, "tiger-youkai. We both follow difficult paths, so I feel that they may cross again. Good luck."

_I'm not the one who needs it,_ Kazeko thought sadly as she watched the girl walk along the path to the north.

SesshoMaru watched in disgust as the flaming arrows thudded in rows into the roof and walls of the house. The wooden building caught fire quickly, but thankfully, it was empty. The family of nightingale-youkai who had been living there had felt his presence nearby and he could warn them of the danger coming.

_Nightingales,_ he thought as he watched the roof collapse. _At one time, only birds of power such as hawks and eagles flourished. Now even the nightingales have power enough to assume humans forms… I sign of peace, I suppose._ He could not help feeling angry at the man he saw overlooking the destruction with a smug smile. Kazeko's father, Captain Yamazaki. SesshoMaru had already seen the man's ruthlessness. He had arrived at one village to late, only in time to see the end of the slaughter…

Yamazaki had even killed his own men. Four archers had refused when he had ordered them to fire on a huddle of small children , tied up in front of the house. Yamazaki had decapitated the men without a word before turning on the children. SesshoMaru knew the pleasure of slaughtering one's foe in battle, but who could find joy or honor in destroying children, barely more than babies? Children could not fight. It was murder of the worst kind.

He turned to move north. He could do no more here. He could only ensure that more families did not meet the same fate, a mass slaughter that not even the children survived…

_I'm not great at fluff, so the little Isamu/Haruka passage took forever to write and seems to have come out a bit awkward to me. I eventually decided that I could probably leave it on "awkward", since that's generally how it is with teenagers. sigh_

_I've still not decided whether I'll write out lemons or not. To be honest, it's not something I'd really know how to write. Well, they've still got a while to go. Sorry for the wait._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_**Chapter **__**Seven**_

Rin chuckled as Michio and Yoshinori sped out of the hut, basket in hand. It had become their weekly ritual- seeing who could come home with more ink plants. Miroku would then help them turn it into ink, and they'd bring it back to Takumi. The little boy seemed to love painting. He certainly had some talent. Painted pieces of cloth were tacked up all around the hut now. Rin was starting to wonder whether she should try and trade for some paper the next time a peddler came through the village.

"At first I thought it was sweet that they wanted to help Takumi," Sango commented, also watching the boys run off, "But now it seems to have turned into another contest for them."

"Everything is," Rin sighed.

Michio's face split into a grin and he knelt under the bush. Yoshinori didn't know about this patch of plants. He could get as many leaves as he needed…

He suddenly froze. He could feel an unfamiliar youki coming up the path towards him. He ducked behind the bush and felt for the handle of the small knife in his belt. He couldn't tell if it was dangerous or not. He watched the path, waiting for the youki to appear.

It was a girl, thin and filthy, clutching a tiny baby. Michio dropped the dagger. This girl looked like she could barely walk, let alone fight. He stepped out into the path.

"Hello?" he said. The girl's reaction was instant and frightening. She shrieked, turning her body to hide the baby from view and raising her hand, drawing claws. Michio threw his dagger on the ground to show her that he meant no harm.

"It's all right," he said. "I have no desire to harm you. The creed of the youkai-taijiya dictates that we only exterminate those who are a danger to humanity, and frankly, you look a few meals short of standing upright, let alone killing." The girl instantly dropped her claws.

"Is this the village she told me of?" she said, her voice a thin whisper. "The village where youkai, hanyou and human live together peacefully?"

Michio wasn't sure who "she" was, but he nodded. "Yes. You are safe here. Come on." Then, as an afterthought, he yelled, "YOSHI!" Yoshinori instantly dropped out of a tree branch. "You were spying on me, weren't you?" Michio said accusingly before the girl could start shrieking again. Yoshinori just shrugged.

"What kind of youkai are you, anyway?" he asked the girl as they started walking back to the village. "That hair looks like tiger stripes." The girl just nodded. Michio wasn't quite certain how she could keep walking. It looked beyond the limits of her energy to speak again.

"Yoshi, can you run ahead and get Kagome-oba-san to cook some rice or something for them?" he asked. Yoshinori nodded and ran off. Suddenly, the girl whispered again. Michio had to listen very hard to hear her wispy voice.

"You said you are youkai-taijiya?" she was saying. "Yet you have youkai friends. And you are helping me."

"Because Okaa-san taught me," Michio said, "That just being a youkai doesn't make you bad, and being human doesn't make you good. Kagome-oba-san also said," he added, "That humans can be worse than any youkai."

The girl smiled humorlessly. That smile sent a chill down Michio's spine.

"_What could have done this to a youkai?_" he wondered as he led her on to the village.

SesshoMaru sat in the shadows of a cave over a mountain pass. Dozens of youkai families were fleeing north, faster than the armies could move, but even youkai tired. Those walking up the path were the ones who'd fled from the furthest south, and they looked exhausted, yet they couldn't afford to stop. Yamazaki had realized that youkai families were fleeing the towns in his path and was pressing his armies forward faster. SesshoMaru watched the paths to the south. He could see the faint orange glow of hundreds of campfires in the distance. At least the humans had to sleep more often than the youkai did.

He wondered as he watched the families moving north again. They were tiring much faster than they might once have. As he watched the families with his eyes and nose, he noticed less inhuman features, the scents of weaker breeds of youkai in human forms. Were youkai truly becoming more human?

The last of the stragglers left the pass. It was not yet midnight. By the time the soldiers had begun to move, the fleeing youkai would be too far north to be caught. Groups were taking every route north, in the hope of warning others. SesshoMaru stood, deciding to head north himself. At the rate the armies were moving, they would reach Rin's village in little over a month. They would best be warned.

Besides, he felt he had no more reason to be this far south. He was feeling drawn to the north. Not bothering to think what the reason might be, he leapt into the darkness.

"Where did you come from?" Kagome asked, filling the tigress' bowl for the fourth time. The girl kept eating, she said she hadn't in nearly a month.

"Far to the south, by the sea," The girl said, pointing on the map in Kagome's book.

"_Osaka,_" Kagome mused. "Were your family…?"

She stopped when the girl's eyes filled with tears as she nodded. Then she wiped her eyes. "Gomen," she said. "It's been a month, but..."

"I understand. You miss them," said Kagome soothingly. The girl was getting her voice back now that she'd eaten something. The little boy had ravenously devoured several bowls of soup and then curled up to sleep by the fire. She still had a very soft voice, but the boy hadn't spoken at all.

"Forgive me, Kagome-sama, but I haven't given you my name yet," the girl said. "I am Mitsuko, and my little brother is Akira. Arigatou Gozaimasu for the food and shelter. We are in your debt." She made to bow but Kagome waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Eat and sleep. You're safe here. Oh, but I have to ask… Who told you to come here?" she added thoughtfully. She'd been wondering for some time who would direct youkai to the village as a safe haven.

"A girl by the name of Kazeko," Mitsuko said. "About my age- oh, I'm seventeen. Akira is only a year and a half. Anyway," she continued, "Kazeko said that she had heard of your village, that humans, youkai and hanyou lived together peacefully. She is also…" Mitsuko seemed hesitant, as if there was something about this girl that worried her.

"Is she all right?" Kagome asked.

"She may be in danger if her father finds that she helped me," Mitsuko murmured, "for he is the one who is leading the campaigns in the south. She mentioned the inu-youkai here, and SesshoMaru-sama, yet if the general finds that she has been consorting with youkai…" Fear and rage filled her voice as she continued. "I have seen him kill his own men for refusing to obey. He will not accept what he will see as betrayal in his daughter."

Kagome nodded, looking troubled. "Get some sleep," she said soothingly. "We'll get someone to keep an eye on Kazeko. Don't worry."

Mitsuko's eyes were already closing, but as she lay next to Akira she murmured, "blood on the path…"

Kagome stood outside the hut where Sango, Miroku, Rin and Kohaku had been listening in to the conversation.

"So, do we know a Kazeko?" Miroku asked, glancing at Mitsuko, who was already fast asleep.

"The name don't sound familiar," InuYasha said with a frown. Sango also looked worried.

"But she knew there were Inu-hanyou here," she said, "And she mentioned SesshoMaru…"

"That's it!" Rin cut in. Everyone stared at her. "Well, SesshoMaru-sama said that in the village he stayed in when he was injured, there'd been this human girl who cleaned up his wounds, yes? She must be Kazeko!"

"That makes sense," Kohaku said, "but…"

"I know," InuYasha said. "her father's the bastard that's killing the youkai in the south, she said. So if he finds out his own daughter _saved_ a youkai…"

Kagome was growing even more worried, remembering Mitsuko's sleepy words. _Blood_…

"InuYasha-sama!"

InuYasha swiped something out of the air near his neck with lightning precision. He held the little flea up to his nose.

"Hell, I thought you were dead," he complained.

"Myoga!" Kagome exclaimed. "We haven't heard from you in years!"

"Well, there's not been much happening," Myoga said. "Not even meals, apparently," he said with a sigh, staring at InuYasha's jugular.

"Never learn, do you?" InuYasha snarled, raising his hand to swat the flea. Myoga waved his tiny hands hastily.

"Okay, okay, I'll just starve!" He said huffily, and hoped into InuYasha's finger. "Anyway, InuYasha-sama, I came to find out if you know anything of the rumors of massed youkai extermination happening to the south."

"We know they ain't rumors," InuYasha said, looking suddenly serious.

"We've already got two refugees," Kagome said, waving her hand towards the hut where the tigers slept, "and SesshoMaru went to warn youkai of the danger so no doubt there'll be more soon."

"SesshoMaru-sama went?" Myoga said. "Hmmm… I'm not entirely surprised, actually. No doubt he doesn't want to see it repeated…"

"See _what_ repeated?" InuYasha said sharply. Myoga seemed to realize what he'd just said.

"Nothing! Nothing!" He said quickly. "Juts the ramblings of an old man…"

"Really?" Kagome said skeptically. "Sounds like a massacre or something…"

"It's not my right to talk about it," Myoga said. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Not your right to talk about something that didn't happen?" he asked shrewdly. Myoga nodded, than looked a little confused.

"Anyway…" the little flea said, "Have you considered some of the offshore islands?"

"We're thinking of the ones farthest north," Kagome said.

"I'll go investigate them for you," Myoga offered, then hopped off. InuYasha stared after him with a frown.

"What was that all about?" he wondered aloud.

_I have been asked where Jaken, Koga and Shippo are. I don't like Jaken and Koga much, so I don't like writing them into my stories. I think I already sent Jaken home to his clan, and Koga and Shippo _will_ be mentioned in due course, so be patient. I have no idea when, since I've only ever written two chapters at most ahead of what's posted._

_Oh, and Happy Birthday, Sueroxmysox (Iloveanimecartoons)!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_**Chapter Eight**_

Kazeko sighed contentedly as a light breeze ruffled her hair, and the flock of birds riding the wind above her left her in momentary shadow before continuing south. _Odd_, she thought sadly, _That anyone should want to be in the south these days._

She felt a slight shift in the air and sat up to see SesshoMaru-sama walking the path below her. She raised her arm to wave, and he looked up. An instant later, he was standing on the cliff edge near her.

"I didn't see you move!" She said with surprise as she stood up. "Anyway, are you responsible for this?" she said, waving her father's letter. He only raised an eyebrow. "Otou-san's furious," she continued. "The youkai keep vanishing in his path. He hasn't killed one in over a week!"

"And this is a problem?" SesshoMaru said questioningly. Kazeko grinned broadly.

"Not at all," she said happily. "It's wonderful!" Suddenly her grin faded and she looked worried. "But where are they all going to go?"

"I'm sending them to the islands in the north," SesshoMaru said. "Most of them are uninhabited, there should probably one where we are safe." He looked a little sad.

"Do you hate having to run?" Kazeko asked. He looked sharply over to her. "Gomen!" she said hastily. "That was rude-"

"Perhaps, but it is true," SesshoMaru said quietly. "I do hate that we are forced to run, but I will not see such bloodshed again."

Kazeko felt the urge to ask what he meant, but held her tongue. She had a vague but fierce feeling that it was not her right to ask. Instead, she said, "Are you going to your friend's village? In the north?"

"Yes," SesshoMaru said. "No doubt the homeless youkai moving north will be amassing there before moving on. There is no longer need for me in the south, because those fleeing are leaving warnings in every village through which they pass."

"Well, there's a few already here," Kazeko said. "I met a girl a few days ago, with her baby brother, a tiger-youkai called Mitsuko. I told her of your friend's village. Could you… make sure she's all right?" Kazeko asked hesitantly. "She was so thin and weak, I've been worried about her."

SesshoMaru was unreadable for a moment, then gave her a faint smile. "I shall pass on your regards to her," he said, then leapt off of the cliff-edge and vanished.

Kazeko watched the path for a second, then with a sigh headed back to the village. Her mother was surely looking for her by now. Kazeko couldn't afford to give her any suspicions which might reach the ears of her father.

"Who's she?" Kazuki asked without preamble as he walked into the hut.

"Why are you here?" Isamu said without looking up from his breakfast.

"Is it too much to ask that I can't act on the random, sleep-befuddled whim to see my best friend?" Kazuki replied mildly. "Anyway-"

"She's from down south," Isamu replied, "Her name's Mitsuko, she's a tigress, and see that baby? That's…"

"She has a kid? _Damn…_" Kazuki said, looking crestfallen.

"- _her baby brother,_ baka." Isamu finished, standing up and dragging Kazuki out of the hut. "And according to Okaa-san that's the first time they've slept in a month, so let's let 'em enjoy it, eh?"

"So it's true?" Kazuki said quietly, suddenly serious. "They're really being slaughtered? The peaceful youkai in the south?" Isamu nodded, his throat tightening.

"I heard Otou-san and Okaa-san talking about it last night," he said sadly. "The armies are moving north. Sooner or later, they will get here. We're going to have to run, my parents and Kiki and I. You'll all be safe, you're all human."

Kazuki looked shocked. "We're not gonna let you run alone!" He burst out. "You're our friends, we're not gonna let them hurt you. Anyway, could you really leave Haruka behind?"

Isamu flushed, but then he shook his head. "No," he murmured, "But we couldn't put you in danger like that…"

"Who's in danger?" Kiki asked. Isamu hadn't realized that she and Hitomi had been following them.

"Are we in danger?" Hitomi said, her violet eyes wide. "Is there another war?"

Isamu looked at Kazuki. Kazuki shook his head slightly. Forcing a smile, Isamu knelt down so that he was face-to-face with the girls. "It's all right," he said. "No-one's in danger. We were just talking about training."

"Oh." Kiki still looked suspicious, but then she grabbed Hitomi's hand and said, "C'mon, Hitomi-chan, I wanna show you someone!"

"We should probably tell Ane-ue, you know," Kazuki said thoughtfully. "They have a right to know."

"Yeah, but they're not here just now, are they?" Isamu said. "Didn't they go out on a job…?"

"_Hiraikotsu!_" Yuki shrieked, hurling the gigantic boomerang at the distant stag-youkai, who rolled to avoid the worst of the blow but was still knocked to the ground. Haruka threw one end of her nunchaku at him, wrapping around his arms. He yanked hard and she was pulled across the ground.

"HARUKA!" Yuki yelled, and caught the youkai in the gut with Hiraikotsu, pinning him to the ground. Haruka raised her sword to decapitate him.

"OTOU-SAN!" A voice yelled, and the girls turned to see a boy of about eight run over and crouch down next to the youkai, shielding him. "Don't kill him!" The boy yelled.

"Get away, Daichi!" the youkai said, but Daichi shook his head.

"No!" he sobbed. "They'll kill you!"

To both youkai's shock, the weapons were suddenly retracted. They looked up to see the two female taijiya watching them.

"Y'know, if you just need food," Yuki said, eyeing the boy's thin frame, "You could just ask. There's no need to attack people. You both look human enough."

"I'm not asking humans for _anything,_" the man spat. "Not after what they did in the south. They murdered my mate and daughters. Daichi and I are only alive because we were in the forest at the time."

"In the south… so it's really happening?" Haruka said, looking horrified. "They're really slaughtering youkai? That's…"

Yuki nodded, a muscle leaping in her jaw. Then she smiled and said, "If you're heading north, you could stop at get some food from our village. If you don't want to take anything from humans," she added, seeing the man's dark look, "Ask Inu-oji-san. He's hanyou."

The man nodded slowly. "Daichi and I are going to continue north," he said. "We will get food however we need to."

"Try and show a little more respect for humans, then?" Yuki said. "If you hate all humans because of what those armies are doing, then you're no better than them."

"I'll bear that in mind," the man said, picking up his son.

"Thank you for not killing Otou-san!" the boy hollered as they ran off. Haruka waved them off, then her smile faded when she turned to Yuki.

"If they're really moving north, they'll eventually get to our village, won't they?" she said quietly. "So what'll happen to…?" she couldn't bring herself to end the sentence. The thought of Isamu in danger… maybe even being killed like the stag's family…

Yuki smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "It's all right," she said kindly. "Do you really think any of us are gonna sit back and let those people attack Isamu-kun and his family? If they want to kill any youkai or hanyou in _our_ village, they're gonna have to go through the clan of the youkai-taijiya first."

Haruka smiled. "Damn straight," she murmured, which made Yuki laugh out loud.

"Wow, you must really be desperate to save him, to swear that badly," she teased. Haruka started laughing too, as they headed back to the nearby village to change. But Yuki hung behind for a moment, staring first to the south and then in the direction of their village with a strange look on her face. But it was gone in an instant as she caught up with Haruka, laughing and joking as usual.

SesshoMaru landed in front of InuYasha's hut, instantly greeted by InuYasha with a "hell, you mean you didn't die in the south?" He ignored InuYasha, as usual, and instead spoke over his head to the miko, taijiya and houshi who were gathered inside.

"Youkai are fleeing north in masses, now," he said. "The armies haven't killed anyone in a while but it also means that they're moving faster. They could well reach here by winter."

"Dammit," InuYasha growled. "And they don't see hanyou as any better than youkai, do they?"

"No," SesshoMaru said, "nor do they care for any human who should assist youkai. In absence of youkai to kill they have been cutting down any human who impedes them, claiming that he is protecting youkai. They are even killing those who were friendly with the youkai living in their villages, whether or not they knew that they were youkai. So even you," he said, turning his attention to Miroku and Sango, "are in grave danger."

"So we'll have to run too, eventually," Kagome murmured, looking pale. There was a tiger-youkai girl next to her who was looking terrified.

"Kazeko's in danger!" she whispered.

"Kazeko? Oh… the girl who directed you here, right?" Miroku said.

"As it happens, she is the one who saved me when I was gravely wounded by bandits some weeks ago," SesshoMaru said. "I saw her on my way here, she is worried about you. She is safe for now, however."

"Thank you, SesshoMaru-sama," Mitsuko gasped. "But I fear she will not remain so, not when her father returns."

SesshoMaru shook his head as he turned to leave. "I am indebted to her for the assistance she rendered me, and so I will watch out for her welfare."

"Arigatou Gozaimasu," Mitsuko said again. SesshoMaru walked out of the hut.

"SesshoMaru-oji-san!"

He looked down to find that InuYasha's daughter, Kikyo, had run over to him.

"You're back sooner than usual," she said. "Is something happening?"

"Nothing that concerns you," he said, with a slight shake of the head. "Do not worry."

"Okay…" she said. Then she thrust something into his hand. "That's for you!" she said. "Have a safe journey, oji-san!" Then she ran off. SesshoMaru looked down at what she had handed him.

It was a small blue flower. It looked vaguely familiar…

"_This is for you!"_

_A different little girl, handing him flowers with a smile…_

SesshoMaru shook his head harder, clearing away the old memories, and unconsciously tucked the flower into his armor as he left the village.

_The story's moving a little faster than I'd intended to… I have several important scenes already written, my main problem is figuring out how to get them between each scene. Well, I'll just see what happens. This story's starting to write itself out of my control…_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

_**Chapter Nine**_

"Welcome back," Kazuki said when Yuki and Haruka walked into the hut. He and Isamu were watching Takumi, who was painting a tree. It was turning red. The colors were blending beautifully.

"He's really got a talent," Haruka said, but she could see from the boys' preoccupied air that there was something serious on their minds, like there was a heavy weight on hers. Isamu's eyes met hers, then he walked over to the door.

"Yoshinori!" he yelled. "You and Michio have to keep an eye on Takumi for a bit, okay?"

"Where's the parents?" Yuki asked as the four of them walked towards the forest.

"They went south with oji-san," Isamu replied. "Checking out the situation."

"Then you found out about it too?" Haruka said, feeling troubled. "What the armies are doing?"

"Yep," Kazuki confirmed. "A tiger-youkai girl and her little brother fled all the way here. They're staying at Isamu's. Isamu heard her telling his parents what happened."

"We ran into another couple of runaways," Yuki said. "A stag-youkai and his son. The rest of their family were murdered. Even the children…"

"It's horrible," Haruka whispered, her eyes bright. "I can understand why people would fight against the likes of Naraku, but these youkai are peaceful!" Isamu put his arm around her shoulders as she fought against the tears. Yuki met Kazuki's look behind their backs, and shook her head. Kazuki sat down on a tree stump and sighed, staring up at the sky.

"Your family's in danger," Yuki said to Isamu. He nodded, his face grim.

"We can run," he said, not looking at any of their faces. "We can run as far as we need to. As long as they don't know that we were ever here, you're all safe." Haruka gasped.

"No!" she said angrily. "Do you think we're just going to _watch_ those soldiers go after you? No! We can fight with you, we could hide you 'till the new moon so they don't know what you are-" By this point, angry tears were splashing down her cheeks. "Do you think we'll leave you alone? Do you think _I'll_ leave you alone? NO!"

Isamu stared at her, nonplussed. Kazuki snorted.

"Lover's quarrels aside," he said loudly, as Haruka wiped her tears off, "You're our friends. No way in _hell_ are we leaving you. Whether you run or fight, we're doing it with you."

"Besides, there's no way we're letting you run off with Haruka, and _really_ no way that you're leaving her behind. Face it, everyone knows you're together."

"Yuki!" Haruka said, blushing. "Besides," she added quietly, "you make it sound like we're _married_…"

"It's only a matter of time," Yuki said with a laugh, making both of them turn redder. Then they smiled.

"Anyway, it's youkai-taijiya _and_ hanyou vs. The Army, deal?" he said, holding out his hand to Isamu. Isamu shook it with a slight smile.

"Aren't those monks?" Miroku said incredulously, watching the small group of ragged-robed men praying over a small fire. They all seemed to be in their forties or fifties.

"I recognize those scents," SesshoMaru commented, narrowing his eyes on the men.

"They were the novices wandering around with that bastard Ungai, weren't they?" InuYasha growled, remembering the unpleasantly self-righteous monk who had damned near got himself and his apprentices killed.

"They're not fighting, they're sensing out youkai," Sango added, watching from a gap between two trees despite the fact that Kagome's barrier was keeping their presences hidden. "The youkai can't hide or pretend from those monks."

"I heard Ungai-sama was killed some years ago," Miroku said thoughtfully. "Tried to exorcise something that was a bit beyond him again. Except this time, whatever it was stripped him to the bone. They identified him by his staff."

"It's no little wonder that people fear youkai," Sango replied, "but this indiscriminate killing makes them no better."

"How long until they reach where we are?" Kagome whispered, her clasped hands unconsciously lowering towards her stomach. InuYasha looked at the camp, then at the mountains in the distance, near their village.

"I'd guess about six weeks, at the rate they're moving," SesshoMaru said. He turned towards the mountains. "I am going to return north. Watch as long as you like, but you will see nothing encouraging." With that, he vanished. Sango sighed and motioned to Kirara, who instantly transformed into her larger form.

"He's right, we might as well leave," she said, mounting up with Miroku behind her. InuYasha nodded and picked up Kagome, who dropped the shield. Several of the monks around the fire looked up sharply, but by then they were already gone.

"We'll have to leave before the armies get here," Kagome said sadly. "I wish we could leave the travelling until after the winter, but it doesn't seem that we'll get that luxury."

"What do we tell the children?" Sango said. "What should we tell them?"

"Dunno about the littler kids," Inuyasha said, "But the older ones are probably suspicious. Isamu was supposed to be asleep by the time that tiger-girl started telling us her story, but if he wasn't pretending and listening in then I'll hug SesshoMaru." Kagome giggled and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck, closing her eyes just to feel the familiar rhythm of being carried as he ran. She opened her eyes again, and caught Sango's glance.

"A little like old times, isn't it, travelling like this?" Sango commented. "If only this were as simple to resolve as killing Naraku."

"After all, this time there's so much more at stake," Miroku added quietly. No-one said anything more, but Kagome noticed a significant increase in InuYasha's speed as they headed back to the village, and their children.

"We need to talk," Kazuki and Miroku said at the same moment. They stared at each other for a moment, causing Sango to have to turn around to hide a sudden and inexplicable fit of the giggles. InuYasha snorted and looked at Yuki, Haruka and Isamu, all of whom were looking serious.

"All right," he said eventually. "How much do you know?"

"WE know that a lot of youkai are being slaughtered by the armies in the South," Haruka said.

"We know that they're moving north," Yuki added.

"And we know that _we're_ in deep shit when they get here," Isamu said. It was a sign of the gravity of the situation that Kagome did not instantly light into InuYasha for passing his colorful vocabulary on to the children. She merely sighed sadly and placed one hand over her stomach.

"How long until they get here?" Kohaku asked. He and Rin had remained behind to stay with Tsukiko, so they hadn't seen the armies.

"SesshoMaru estimates six weeks," Miroku said, "but it could be sooner. We don't know for sure when." Rin went white.

"So are we gonna run or fight?" Kazuki said. InuYasha stared at him.

"_You_ don't have to do anything," he growled. "You're human, you're not in danger-"

"Otou-san," Isamu cut in, "We already went over this. They're not budging, and I… don't want to leave Haruka." All of the adults stared at them at this proclamation, causing the teenagers to blush, but Haruka still gripped Isamu's hand.

"Although I agree with them," Miroku said. "InuYasha, did you _really_ think we were going to sit back and watch you all hunted?"

"They wanna fight youkai?" Kohaku said, gripping his Kusarigama. "Let's see if they can take _humans_ first."

"Spoken like a true youkai-taijiya," Sango said cheerily. "We're with you."

Kagome smiled at her friends, her lips trembling as though she was trying not to cry. "Arigatou," she said quietly. Inuyasha raised his sleeves to wipe her eyes.

"Wenches get too damn emotional when they're whelping," he muttered, but he wouldn't meet anyone's eyes either.

"What's going on?" Hitomi said with a frown, watching the adults and older siblings in the distance. "Why's everyone so serious?"

"Probably talking about 'training'," Kiki said acidly. Hitomi stared at her friend.

"What do you mean?" she said in bewilderment. Kiki looked annoyed.

"I'm ten, does he really think I'm a baby?" she grumbled, then she said aloud, "Nii-san was talking about "danger". He said we're all in danger. When I asked him about it, he said it was just training." She returned to looking annoyed. Hitomi's eyes narrowed.

"You mean they can tell the older kids but they can't tell us?" Michio said as he sat down next to the girls

"They think we're still kids," said 10-year-old Yoshinori. Michio couldn't help sniggering.

"Finished," Takumi suddenly announced, holding today's painting aloft. Hitomi took it from her little cousin with a tender smile and looked at it. Her eyes widened in amazement.

"Wow, look, Kiki-chan!" she said in an awestruck voice. "It's your family!"

They all crowded around. Indeed, the newest picture showed InuYasha, Kagome, Isamu and Kiki in perfect detail, down to tiny slivers of claws on InuYasha and Isamu's hands. There was also, interestingly, a bundle in Kagome's arms, and although the outline of a head had been drawn, there was no face.

"That's the new baby," he explained helpfully. " 'cept it's not born yet, so I don't know what it looks like."

"Wow," Miroku said, "He really is good, isn't he?"

The kids all jumped. They hadn't realized the adults were approaching. Rin picked up her son's picture and passed it to Kagome with a smile. Then she reached down and grasped Takumi's wrists.

"Look at these inky hands," she teased. "You're wasting all the ink your brother and cousin collected for you! Go wash up, and I'll pin your lovely picture up to dry. Once you get back, we can have dinner." Takumi instantly sped off towards the river, followed by the other children who knew that dinner only happened to those with clean hands. Kohaku leaned down to tidy away the inks.

"The pup does have a talent," InuYasha commented. "I hear they place a lot of values on artists in the capital."

"Maybe when he's older," Rin said. "He's only six."

"And we have more pressing matters to attend to if we want him- or any of the others- to grow older," Sango said gently, but firmly.

"Yes, but we have to wait for Myoga-jii-san," Kagome said. "If it comes to running, we need to know where to run to."

"Myoga-jii-san was here?" Isamu said with interest. He had only met the old flea a couple of times, when he was younger- when he was five, he'd freaked out after squashing the parasite, before Kagome showed him how Myoga popped back into shape and InuYasha had made some comments along the lines of "couldn't kill the old coward if you tried".

"Yeah, and he'd better be back soon," InuYasha said. "If he's found a safe place, then I might consider not squashing him when he goes for my neck."

_Just for anyone who doesn't know, Kyoto was the capital of Japan until 1868, so would have been at the time this takes place, which is in about… (Consults self-made timeline based entirely on the fact that Kagome entered the well in May 1996) 1417, nearly 1418. Something like that. Short answer, when anyone refers to "The Capital", they mean Kyoto. _

_Many thanks to Bert8813 for being my first MediaMiner reviewer! In answer to your question, Bert, the kids' descriptions are as follows:_

_**Isamu**__ has long black hair and golden eyes. He has human ears, not dog ones, but he does have fangs and claws. Beyond that, he looks quite a lot like InuYasha. He doesn't have his own sword yet; it's to be a 17__th__ birthday present- if he does well enough in training._

_**Kiki**__ also has long black hair and golden eyes as well, but she also has dog ears. She does have small fangs but no claws. She looks a bit like a little Kagome. She has shown small amounts of spiritual power on her human nights, but she can't use them as a hanyou without hurting herself._

_**Yuki and Haruka**__ are identical twins. I don't think I've mentioned this, but the main difference is that Yuki cuts her hair very short (a little shorter than shoulder-length) while Haruka has hers long, generally in a low or high ponytail depending on whether or not she's in her taijiya gear. They both have brown eyes and black hair. Their exterminator uniforms are like their mother's, except Yuki's sash and armor are different shades of yellow and Haruka's are blue. Yuki got given Hiraikotsu upon completing her training, but Haruka got a new weapon- a special set of nunchaku with hidden blades in the ends._

_**Kazuki**__, in both looks and personality, is very much his father's son. He has brown eyes instead of purple, and has grown his hair long (he keeps it in a low ponytail like Miroku's, only Kazuki's goes down to his shoulder blades). He also has a weapon. It's a little like Kusarigama (Kohaku's weapon) except instead of a sickle on the end, it's a heavy metal ball studded with spikes (like a Morningstar or a mace). His taijiya armor is green, and he's actually had the black bodysuit made dark brown instead of black so that he's camouflaged. _

_**Michio **__has purple eyes and short black hair. He just got his own weapon, a long-bladed halberd, though it's a bit big for him at the present. He does have taijiya armor, in orange. _

_**Hitomi**__ has quite long black hair and Miroku's eyes (her name is reference to them; Michio's eyes are slightly darker than Miroku's, but Hitomi's are the precise shade.) she is training as a taijiya, but isn't showing any inclination to a certain weapon. She has armor, in light purple._

_**Yoshinori**__ has very light brown eyes and very dark brown hair (it looks black). His armor is red and, like Michio, he is showing a preference to long weapons such as staffs and halberds._

_**Takumi **__has black hair and very dark brown eyes. As he's still small, he's done some simple fitness training but no actual battle training. However, he's showing more inclination to arts than fighting, so he may not end up becoming a Taijiya._

_**Tsukiko **__has dark brown eyes and hair. Beyond that, since she's a couple months old, it's hard to tell._

_Hope that answers your questions!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

_**Chapter Ten**_

Kazeko was bored again. Somehow, since the bandit attack, normal village life was lacking in keeping her attention. Her thoughts kept wandering to the south, to the fleeing and persecuted youkai, to SesshoMaru-sama.

She actually had to physically shake her whole head to dislodge thoughts of that particular youkai. It generally didn't work, however, and lead to her sitting on the cliff-edge until her mother tracked her down and bawled her out. She sighed at the thought of the row she would get for doing it, but slipped away from the fields and down the track to the cliff anyway.

She stopped short and rubbed her eyes. Okay, so she wasn't over-obsessing. SesshoMaru-sama actually was standing on the cliff, although he wasn't facing her. He seemed to be staring at something in his hand. She moved a little closer and saw what looked to be a feather and a small hairpin decorated with a pale blue flower. It looked like a child's. Suddenly he looked up at her and, in that same instant, tucked the items out of sight into his armor.

"Kazeko. I should have smelled you coming before now."

"I don't blame you, SesshoMaru-sama," she replied. "It looked like you were a million miles away…" she decided it was no use pretending that she didn't see the items, and added, "What were those, anyway?" To her shock, something flashed through his eyes- sadness? Grief? But a second later it was gone, replaced by the cold gold façade, and she couldn't tell if she had imagined it or not.

"Reminders," he said eventually, after she was starting to get worried that she was being too nosy in asking, "of what the price can be of stubborn pride."

There it was again, some enigmatic sentence that got her curious, wondering what on earth could have happened to this solitary youkai in his past, yet she felt it wasn't her place to ask. It was such questions that kept creeping into her thoughts, however, as she dwelled on what the answers might be.

"I saw your friend," he said eventually, changing the subject. "Mitsuko. The tigress. She and her brother made it quite safely. She has been worried about what will happen when your father finds that you have met youkai and not tried to kill them." He sounded slightly mocking now, although she could hear the contempt for her father's 'work' as well, a contempt that she shared. She snorted derisively.

"Otou-san won't be back for some time," she said, "and since as far as anyone knows I've only met you once, they'll probably have forgotten it by the time Otou-san returns in the spring…" she trailed off when he shook his head slightly.

"That is the problem," he said quietly. "With no killing to do, your father's armies are moving faster. They will be here by midwinter." Kazeko paled. They were moving faster? But if they got here in midwinter…

"But your friends," she said. "The ones in the village? Do they know…?"

"Of course they know," SesshoMaru said, "And the main problem presented is that whenever they flee, they are fleeing into winter. Winter is not the time to run and fight, but I doubt your father will end his campaign then. And there is no point in running now when they do not know where to run _to_. They need somewhere safe to work towards, they cannot flee blindly into the blizzard."

Kazeko balled her fists in frustration. "I wish they didn't have to flee!" she burst out, consumed with concern for these people that she had never met. "If only they could fight!"

"We could," SesshoMaru said, "but that would ultimately end with the extinction of humankind. It would not help people's perception of us. Our only choice is to fade from sight and then, with any luck, memory."

Kazeko walked past him and sat on the cliff-edge, dropping her chin onto her knees. They were both silent for a while. Finally, SesshoMaru-sama spoke.

"I must return to the north," he said eventually. "We are awaiting a messenger with news of safe places where we can resume our lives peacefully."

Kazeko nodded and stood once more. "Then Sayonara, SesshoMaru-sama," she said, bowing in farewell. "And please, tell Mitsuko not to worry about me. I'll be fine."

SesshoMaru bowed his head to her. "Sayonara, Kazeko." And once more, he disappeared.

Isamu hissed as he rolled to avoid the rapidly descending _bokken_ his father was wielding, then span back onto his feet and raised his own wooden sword to block the next blow, then leapt out of reach.

"Good move, pup," InuYasha said, before leaping forward again. Isamu gritted his teeth as he span his sword to block the next onslaught. Then, without really thinking about it, he span his sword in the opposite direction, smacking into his father's wrist and nearly disarming him. InuYasha backed up again, examining the blackening bruise on his wrist.

"Nice," he said approvingly. "When did you come up with that?"

"I-" Isamu said, then faltered. Then he shrugged his shoulders and admitted, "I didn't really think about it."

InuYasha smiled and bowed his head slightly. "If you can come up with moves like those on the fly, then it's nearly time to take you to see the crazy old geezer," InuYasha said, walking away to put away his bokken. Isamu perked up. "Crazy Old Geezer" meant Totosai, and _that_ meant Isamu would get his own sword. He'd gotten to practice with Tessaiga a few times, but with little result; his father had always said that youkai blades only work for who they want to work for.

He grinned, and followed his father. It seemed practice was over early. Afterwards, he had to find Kazuki and tell him the news.

"Watch it!"

Kazuki quickly grabbed Akira away from the water's edge. Mitsuko ran over and picked up her little brother.

"Arigatou Gozaimasu," she said, before putting Akira down turning her attention on him. "Nii-chan," she admonished, "Stay away from the water, okay? It's dangerous. Are we going to stay away from the water?" The little boy nodded solemnly. "Good. Now stay in sight or we're going back inside." Akira nodded again before wandering off, following a couple of butterflies that kept fluttering around the clearing.

"I remember when Imoto-ue was that age," Kazuki said. "She could walk, but she thought that meant she could swim and fly. Don't know how many times chichi-ue pulled her away from rivers and out of trees. She had to be tied down, practically." He was very gratified to hear the beautiful tigress giggle.

"Hitomi-chan?" she asked with a smile. "But she's so quiet now."

"Yeah, she and Kiki-chan got the idea that "proper ladies" don't go digging through the mud and climbing trees," Kazuki said. "Instead, they steal their mothers' hair ornaments." Mitsuko started laughing again. Kazuki smiled. The girl had been so solemn, so sad, ever since she arrived. _Of course,_ he thought, _You'd have to be a pretty bent sicko to spend all your time laughing right after your family was brutally murdered._ He thought of Isamu's family again, and the dangers they were facing, and his smile faded. Mitsuko noticed and leaned closer to him.

"Kazuki-kun?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Kazuki opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to worry her. Instead, through some genetic instinct, his hand made for the triangular gap at the top of her kimono.

"Note to self: youkai girls have claws," Kazuki said while Haruka rubbed a little ointment into the five parallel scratches on his cheeks. Yuki and Isamu weren't helping because they were doubled up laughing. InuYasha had walked past, taken one look at Kazuki's cheek and wandered off, muttering something along the lines of "like father, like son".

"Can't say you didn't deserve that," said Haruka, who herself was giggling constantly as she dug around for some cloth for a bandage. Isamu eventually straightened up, still clutching at his stomach and gasping.

"Should we rename you hentai-kun?" he said. "Let's face it, when Mitsuko stomped into our hut with her face that deep red, We all knew who the culprit was."

"A literal case of adding insult to injury," Kazuki muttered as he pasted his bandage into place on his cheek, Haruka having been to overcome by the giggles to help any more. Isamu reached down to help her stand up as Yuki wiped her eyes. The two of them, still chuckling, left the hut, presumably to find something more sobering. Kazuki frowned, watching Yuki.

"Want a rag?" he said, picking up a bit of cloth. She came to grab it, wiping her eyes again.

"Were you really laughing that hard?" he said quietly. Yuki's laughter instantly dispelled as she finished wiping her eyes.

"It's okay," she said. "We have more important things to worry about just now."

"You're hurting," Kazuki said unusually serious. "You should at least tell-"

"No," Yuki said sharply. "I told you, there are more important things to worry about just now than me. Besides, I'm fine." Kazuki looked skeptical. She sighed and admitted "Okay, so I'm not _right now_. But I will be. I'm a youkai-taijiya. I'll be strong."

"Ane-ue, this requires an entirely different kind of strength to killing youkai. Are you sure you-"

"_I'll be fine,_ Kazuki," Yuki said. Then she smiled dangerously. "Just remember what'll happen if you tell _anyone_…"

Kazuki, for once, did not surrender, but looked her straight in the eye and said, "I remember. That's how I'll know when it'll be worth it."

Kagome always liked sitting in Goshinboku, because it calmed her worries and nerves. That sitting in Goshinboku also meant that she was wrapped in InuYasha's arms was probably coincidence. She smiled as she stared up at the paling sky, one of InuYasha's arms wrapped around her shoulders and the other gently massaging her stomach. Still, she could feel a tenseness in her mate, a worry that mirrored her own.

"I'm sure Myoga-jii-san will be back soon," she said gently, finally voicing her own worries. InuYasha sighed, a defeated sound that Kagome knew he would only let her hear.

"He'd better," InuYasha said. "The sooner he finds a safe place, the sooner we can run." He made a frustrated little growling noise.

"You hate running," Kagome said. He gave a jerky nod.

"But I'm not chancing you or the pups," he said, his hand stilling over her stomach. "And fighting, or travelling in the middle of winter, would do just that."

"I wish we didn't have to put the others in danger," Kagome admitted. "They'll be more vulnerable to attack, and if they get seen with us-"

"I know," InuYasha said, cutting her off quietly. "But you know they won't leave us. Stubborn humans. You should know."

Kagome smiled and turned to face him. "Am I a stubborn human?" she asked teasingly. InuYasha grinned and kissed her.

"The absolute worst," he proclaimed. Then he looked down to the lake's edge, where Mitsuko- claws drawn, apparently- was stalking a fast-talking Kazuki. "I take that back," he said, nodding towards the teenagers. "Like _bouzo_, like son. That one's clearly met his match."

"Yes, and remember when that happened to Miroku?" Kagome said with a smile, and they both heard, in their memories, the ringing echo of a million well-deserved slaps.

"If that pup ever utters the words 'bear my child,'" InuYasha growled, watching the 'pup' in question break into full flight, "I'm gonna ask Sango if she really gave birth to him or if she just lost it with Miroku and cut him in half with Hiraikotsu."

"You think he multiplied like a _Zushi Nezumi_?" Kagome asked, laughing. InuYasha held her closer.

"Wouldn't put it past him," he muttered. "That bouzo used to be more of a dog than me."

Kagome's laughter rang out over the treetops, but still, as she watched the unparalleled view of the forest from the treetop, both of them couldn't help wondering how many more times that view would hear their laughter.

Yamazaki smiled coldly as the fire took hold all around the hidden cave. There were screams and howls inside as the hidden creatures felt the heat. He raised he arms as a signal to the lines of gunmen around him and the more old-fashioned archers stationed on the cliff-tops. As the first _mononoke_ appeared at the cave entrance, he dropped his arms. The _bang_s and _twang_s from the guns and bows were immediately followed by more screams and howls as the creatures fell, and vision was obscured by the thick haze of smoke from the guns and the unnatural flashes of light as each of the human-shaped youkai died. The dead wolves lay thick upon the ground.

One wolf-youkai dodged the bullets and arrows with unnatural speed. Black ponytail flying, it leapt into the air with a piercing howl, focusing it's rage upon Yamazaki, who raised his own gun a fired, the tiny ball of steel death embedding it between the eyes of the leader of the _Yourouzoku_.

_Just in case I never mentioned, "Bouzo" means something along the lines of "perverted/twisted holy man", and is apparently how InuYasha refers to Miroku in the original Japanese manga. Or the anime, can't remember which. "Mononoke" Means "animal spirit", and can be used to refer to animal-type youkai (Including InuYasha, SesshoMaru and Koga). Lastly, "Yourouzoku" means, literally, "Magical wolf tribe" and is the Japanese name for the wolf-demon clan- which Koga is an important leader of._

_And thanks to MilenaLupin for your lovely comments! It's when people say that they like a particular character that makes them feel "real" to me, so it was wonderful to read your review. _

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

_**Chapter Eleven**_

"I should probably apologize for baka-nii-chan," Haruka said, sitting down next to Mitsuko, who had come to watch the twins practicing with Akira on her lap. She hardly ever allowed herself to be separated from her brother. Haruka supposed it was because he was the only relative she had left. Mitsuko shook her head.

"It's all right, if he wants to try it on, he can take what he gets," she growled, cracking her claws. Haruka giggled.

"That's probably _why_ he keeps 'trying it on'," she said.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuko asked, looking confused.

"Well," said Haruka knowledgeably, " he's never actually been turned down before. He can't help chasing anything running." She was struck by a rather vivid memory of Isamu, at about five years old, chasing rabbits all over a field. When he finally caught one, he was so surprised that he let it go again. "Must be a guy thing," she said with a giggle.

"So you think he likes me _because_ I don't like him?" Mitsuko asked, clearly in even more confusion.

"That's about the size of it," Yuki said, dropping Hiraikotsu and joining in the conversation. "I don't even pretend to understand men. At least Haruka's got a better clue of how they work, _she's_ the one with a fiancée-"

"YUKI!" Haruka yelped, turning red again. Yuki stared at her twin.

"Y'mean you two are sneaking off to make out every night for a couple of months now and he _still_ hasn't proposed?" Yuki asked indignantly.

"Yuki, with everything that's going on, we agreed that it really isn't the time-" Haruka began, but Yuki cut her off.

"On the contrary, there's no better time," she said seriously. "I mean, what if the armies all come for us tomorrow? Do you really want to die a virgin?"

"Yuuuuu-kiiiii!" Haruka moaned again, but further speech seemed beyond her. Yuki giggled and turned her attention back to Mitsuko, who was almost as red. With her vivid orange-and-black hair, she looked vaguely as if she were on fire.

"Anyway, we're talking about _you_," she said, causing Mitsuko to look scared. "Face it, the more you beat him off, the bigger his crush is gonna get. The question is, do_ you_ like him?" Mitsuko's paling cheeks flushed red again. Yuki and Haruka exchanged a glance, both grinning, Haruka quickly descending towards pink. Mitsuko went redder.

"But that's wonderful!" Haruka giggled, clapping her hands.

"Yeah, there's finally a girl who can- and happily will- tie that little sucker down," Yuki proclaimed with malignant glee.

"No- that's not- you're-"Mitsuko stuttered, falling silent and Haruka patted her shoulders.

"It's okay, we won't tease you," she said soothingly.

"In fact," Yuki agreed, "We're happy to help." Mitsuko gave up denying it.

"I guess he… _is_ pretty funny," she said grudgingly, her cheeks still burning red. "And kind of cute. But what…"

"What do you do?" Haruka asked, when Mitsuko trailed off. The tigress nodded.

"Keep doing what you're doing, I guess," Yuki said, pulling up a semblance of seriousness. "I mean, he might just have a crush now, but keep his attention long enough and he'll be so far gone that he'll bow at your feet when you snap your claws."

"Are you two training or gossiping?" Sango yelled from across the field, where she was showing Hitomi a few sword stances. The little girl was very quick with the bokken, but she wasn't showing much prowess with other weapons. Haruka patted Mitsuko on the shoulder before picking up her nunchaku and running to set the targets back up. Yuki followed her, winking at Mitsuko before hefting Hiraikotsu over her shoulder and walking away.

Mitsuko waved them off, then suddenly gasped as her vision was obscured.

_A sea. A red sea. Red because it was not water, but blood. Blood that burned. And there were faces in the fire, howling, screaming…_

She gasped for breath as the vision cleared. Akira was looking up at her, with worry creasing his little eyes, but no-one else had noticed.

Except the miko. Kagome-sama. Mitsuko smiled at her then picked up Akira, taking him on a walk through the forest as she tried to think.

"Do you think nii-chan really has a crush on Mitsuko?" Haruka said thoughtfully, trailing her fingers in the cool water. It was the beginning of autumn, and the nights were starting to get colder. She shivered slightly, and Isamu wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest. Since it was warm, she had no complaints.

"Kazuki?" he said eventually. He seemed to have been chewing the thought over for a while. "Maybe. At first I thought it was just that no girl had ever slapped him before, but he seems to be thinking about her all the time- not just thinking about how to get into her kimono." Haruka giggled, leaning her head back to look at him.

"Well, she has a crush on him, too," she said lightly. "Yuki advised her to keep playing hard-to-get."

"Are you sure she's not just indirectly bedeviling Kazuki?" Isamu asked. "Because it's a good plan. Wish I'd thought of that."

"You're mean," Haruka said, but she was smiling broadly. She leaned back to kiss him. He kissed her back. Holding her tightly. They opened their mouths to each other, exploring each other. Eventually, Isamu pulled back. With a heavy sigh, Haruka leaned against his chest.

"Makes me almost wish those damn armies would hurry up and attack," she murmured. "The sooner they do, the sooner we flee, the sooner we're safe."

"I wish they weren't attacking at all," Isamu said. "Haruka, I… I love you. I really do. But…"

"I know," Haruka said, tears welling up. "It's not safe. Nothing is."

"I'm going to keep you safe," Isamu promised, holding her hands as she sat up. "So that, when we find a new home- somewhere safe, somewhere peaceful- we can be together. I promise."

"You'd better keep that promise," Haruka said, and leaned forwards to kiss him again.

The next morning, Isamu was shaken awake. He sat up, yawning, and staring out of the doorway at the pre-dawn sky.

"Otou-san, what the…?" he murmured, before his father shushed him, pointing at his sleeping mother and sister. He pulled Isamu from the hut.

"Happy 16th, pup," InuYasha muttered. "I told you we'd go to see the geezer on your birthday if you did well enough in training, didn't I?"

Isamu couldn't help grinning broadly when he realized what his father meant. "You mean Totosai-jii-san's gonna make me a sword?"

"Only if you run," InuYasha said, setting off. "Move it, pup!"

Isamu kept the grin as he took off after his father.

"Here we are."

Isamu looked up at the large skeleton of some dead youkai where the ancient swordsmith lived. Isamu had only met Totosai when he'd come to the village to create Taijiya weapons, but he'd seen Tessaiga in his father's hands and had long been looking forward to having such an amazing blade for his own.

"Oi, Totosai!" InuYasha yelled, stomping into the cavern. "You still alive?"

"Is that Myoga? Is he back?" the bug-eyed old youkai muttered, walking away from the forge which he'd been blowing fore into. He stared at InuYasha and Isamu.

"Neither of you are Myoga," he said, scratching his head. "Inuyasha, did you break Tessaiga again?"

"Calm down, Tessaiga's fine," InuYasha growled. "Isamu's 16 now. I figured it was about time he got his own blade."

Isamu hadn't thought it possible, but the swordsmith's eyes widened even more as he looked Isamu over.

"Ohhh, Isamu, you're sixteen?" he said. "I thought you were only a pup…"

"Cut the senility," InuYasha growled. He had little patience for Totosai , but so far he hadn't whacked the old man over the head, which was probably a personal record. "Can you make the pup a blade?"

"Hmmm…" Totosai turned around and came back with the biggest pair of pliers Isamu had ever seen.

"Um, Otou-san…?" he said, staring at the pliers.

"I need a fang. Fangs make wonderful blades," Totosai announced. InuYasha rolled his eyes.

"Figures. Open your mouth, pup. And take good care of this blade, 'cos this crazy old man's always looking for an excuse to pull teeth."

Isamu took another swig of water from the bamboo tube his father had brought. His gums were still stinging. InuYasha had finally given in and smashed his fist into Totosai's head.

"I need two because I'm _forging_ a blade, not _fixing_ one," the old man said, unfazed. "And it'll take three weeks."

"Three _weeks_?" InuYasha said incredulously. "But by then we'll have left! Oh yeah... you'll have to move soon, too," InuYasha added thoughtfully. "Did Myoga-jiji tell you about the massacres?"

"Oh, I know all about the massacres," Totosai said, washing Isamu's fangs in the water barrel. "I didn't know that _you_ knew about it, though. I thought you were a baby at the time."

"What?" InuYasha said, confused. "What are you talking about."

"Ah wait, That was the old one," Totosai said infuriatingly. "You mean the new massacre? In the south. Yes, now I remember. The old one was in the west."

"_What the hell are you talking about?_" InuYasha half-yelled. Totosai stared at him in confusion.

"You mean you don't know? Human armies are killing youkai in the south. They're moving north. It's terrible. I'll have to move north, soon. Maybe live on one of the little islands." InuYasha growled in frustration and stomped from the cave. Isamu followed him, bowing his head to Totosai as he left.

"We'll pick up your sword on the way north," he told Isamu as they broke into a run. "At least the old baka still makes good weapons, even if his brain's gone into retirement."

"What'd he mean by a massacre in the west?" Isamu asked. His gums had stopped stinging, so he felt up to talking. His father frowned.

"Dunno. Could've been the same one that Myoga-jiji was talking about, the one that bastard SesshoMaru was at. We were both born in the west, after all."

"I wonder who was killed?" Isamu wondered aloud. InuYasha just shrugged and kept running.

_This chapter is both a "Happy Birthday" to Isamu and to my pal Taylor. Laser-tag parties ahoy!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

_**Chapter Twelve**_

"Happy birthday!" Kagome said, giving Isamu a hug as he reentered the hut. He smiled at her and sat down, grabbing a couple of vegetable out of the steam-pot. "I have a present for you, hold on a second…"

Isamu started eating as he watched his mother digging around in the small wooden chest in the corner. Kiki, apparently having already had her breakfast, ran into the hut with Hitomi and placed a ring of flowers on his head.

"Happy birthday!" they both said, then ran giggling from the hut again. Kagome returned and sat down next to Isamu, pushing a small, silk-wrapped bundle into his hands.

"InuYasha's mother left that to him," she said, smiling softly, "and he gave it to me. I think it's about time you put it to good use." Isamu unwrapped the smooth silk and found a beautiful golden hair-comb, inlaid with tiny, precious stones. His eyes widened in shock. In the upper human classes, giving such a hair-comb as a gift was viewed as a proposal. "Okaa-san…"

"I know that you two don't want to get married until we're all safe," Kagome said, her eyes suspiciously bright, "But when we're settled in the islands, I think that's the first thing we need to do."

Isamu looked up and caught his mother's eyes. He nodded, smiling. "Arigato Gozaimasu, Okaa-san."

"Happy Birthday!" Yuki, Haruka and Kazuki yelled together as Isamu walked up to them. Kazuki stood up and handed him something.

"Here, we banded together to buy that," he said. Isamu unwrapped the cloth to see a beautiful red-and-white painted rice bowl, with a matching sake cup inside and red chopsticks with white-painted detailing. Isamu grinned broadly.

"Red and white… are you trying to tell me something?" He asked Kazuki, who laughed aloud.

"I dunno… it's not like they're the traditional colors of a formal occasion, right?" he said mockingly. Isamu laughed as well, then pulled a small silk package out of his pocket.

"Actually, I know it's my birthday, but… I have a present for you, Haruka." Yuki and Haruka both went "oooooooooo" under their breath. Isamu ignored them.

"Please accept this meager gift," he said formally, bowing and handing the package to Haruka. She slowly unwrapped it, and nearly dropped it in shock when she saw the hair-comb. Yuki shrieked.

"Isamu!" she squealed. "Where did you _get_ that? It's so beautiful!"

"It belonged to obaa-san," Isamu said. "She left it to Otou-san, who gave it to Okaa-san, who gave it to me, who gave it to Haruka."

"Let's put it in your hair!" Yuki proclaimed, gently taking the comb from Haruka, who was staring at it with a soft smile and looking as if she were about to cry. Yuki carefully piled Haruka's long hair on top of her head and secured it in place with the comb. It looked stunning. Isamu hugged her, and she hugged him back, passing on her unspoken acceptance.

"Pack it away securely," Isamu whispered in her ear, "And when we get to safety, you can wear it again."

Kazuki and Yuki both clapped quietly, Kazuki with a mocking grin, Yuki with tears in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Mitsuko asked, a late riser. Kagome and Sango were standing at the entrance to Rin's hut, where the lady of the shed was also watching the four teenagers in the training field in the outskirts of the village. Kagome and Sango were both crying and hugging each other.

"Isamu proposed," Rin said, jumping on the spot, clearly overcome with joy. "We'll have to have the wedding as soon as we find a new home. Oh, it's so lovely…"

"We're mother-in-law to each other's children!" Kagome said, giggling.

"Does that make us sisters-in-law or something?" Sango said, also giggling, and they burst into laughter, hugging each other again. The joyful hysteria was clearly too much for the mothers-in-law to be.

"I'll go congratulate them," Rin said, running over to the field, followed by Sango. The various husbands had disappeared, presumably until the squealing stopped. Mitsuko made to follow them, but Kagome stopped her, wiping tears of joy from her eyes and yet suddenly serious.

"Mitsuko, I wanted to ask… You said you were clairvoyant," she said quietly. "You nearly collapsed near the field yesterday. Did you see something?"

Mitsuko meant to lie, but she couldn't seem to say it. Something about lying to the miko felt like lying to your own mother. She shook her head and murmured, "I saw a sea of blood, burning in fire. I saw out paths headed towards the blood and fire. But I cannot tell if we must ford the red sea or go around it."

There was no laughter in Kagome's face now. She was pale, and had pressed her lips together tightly. "It is all to easy to guess what that must mean," she muttered, "But for now, all I can do is wait and have faith. We should be able to get away from here before the armies arrive in three weeks' time…"

"No," Mitsuko whispered, now gripping Kagome's arm back. "No, the sea is not three weeks away. It is three days."

Kazuki sighed dejectedly. He flicked another leaf off of the bridge and into the water, watching it slide away on the current. Isamu and Haruka had been spending all their time together, not just the evenings, ever since the proposal. Though he wouldn't admit it, Kazuki was feeling a little lonely without his best friend to bedevil, and to make matters worse he still wasn't getting anywhere with the beautiful tigress staying at Isamu's.

"Problems, hentai-chan?" Yuki said in a friendly tone. "Mitsuko still rejecting you?"

"Yes," Kazuki said, "so why can't I seem to stay away from her?"

"Awww, is Kazuki-chan in love?" Yuki crooned, causing Kazuki to glare at her.

"Yeah, like _you_ could give me any helpful advice," Kazuki grumbled. Yuki continued grinning infuriatingly, but he saw something behind her eyes flinch. He sighed. "Gomen."

"You should be nice to me," Yuki said huffily. "And here I was about to give you some helpful advice on how to stop your cheeks being turned into sushi."

"Just can't help playing matchmaker, can you?" Kazuki complained loudly, but relented and said, "fine, what do I need to do?"

"What you should _stop _doing," Yuki said, unable to stop herself telling him what to do, "Is groping her. Leave the usual targets alone. Hold her _hands_ instead. If you're sitting next to her, put your arm around her _shoulders_- _not_, may I add, far enough around to go for her chest. Okay? Don't grope now and maybe she'll let you later. I mean, you could ask Otou-san how he got Okaa-san to marry him despite the perversion, but he'll probably say the same."

"Yeah, yeah…" Kazuki said, still sounding dejected. Suddenly he yelped and smashed his hand against his neck. Something tiny and flat peeled away from his hand.

"Is that… Myoga-jii-san?" Yuki asked, staring at the small figure. It puffed out and jumped onto her outstretched hand.

"Indeed," the little flea said. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Yuki-sama. I must speak to InuYasha-sama and the others."

"You take the flea to the village, I'll fetch Isamu and ane-ue," Kazuki said, running into the forest.

"Do you have news?" Yuki asked, and Myoga nodded.

"Both good and bad," The old flea replied. "We must hurry."

SesshoMaru narrowed his eyes. He had been watching Kazeko's village when the man had ridden up. To be honest, he had partially been hoping for a chance to speak with Kazeko again. It had been oddly comforting, his short conversations with the human girl, a few minutes where he felt peaceful, something that was increasingly rare. Her presence was so comforting that he hadn't even noticed her approach. He took out the feather, twirling it between his fingers once more, remembering one who had brought him the same peace at a time when he hadn't wanted it. But he'd needed it. And he'd ignored that fact until it was too late.

_I would not make the same mistake again,_ he thought, watching the hut. And there was the danger.

Yamazaki was here, three weeks before he should have been. Which meant his army could be nearby. How did they get here so fast?

If Yamazaki was here, the Kazeko was only safe so long as the villagers kept their mouths shut about him, and he couldn't count on that. But he had to know how close the army was.

He ran from the village, moving south, nose searching for the scent of masses of men and horses and metal. Once he knew where the army was, he could come back to watch over Kazeko. If her father knew that she'd betrayed him, he'd kill her.

_And I swore that I would not let that happen again,_ he thought, hoping that he would not be too late once more.

"What's going on, Myoga-jiji?" Inuyasha asked. "It took you three weeks to search the northern islands?"

"The largest ones are only inhabited along the coastline, InuYasha-sama," Myoga said. "If you slipped past these fishing villages undetected, you could easily hide in the centre of the island."

"Then that's where we're headed," Miroku said. "We should find a way to warn the other youkai."

"That is not all, InuYasha-sama," Myoga said. "Yamazaki rode night and day to get to his village early. And he has drafted in decommissioned armies form the west. While the main army is still three weeks away, the newer one is less than three days away!"

"Shit!" Isamu yelled. "We have to move, soon!" Kagome went white and clutched at her stomach. InuYasha put his arms around her, trying to soothe her.

"Then we pack," Sango said, "Now. Change into fighting gear and pack food and anything that we just can't leave behind. We leave as soon as possible."

"At dawn," Miroku said. "They're three days away, let's get some sleep before we run. Let the children sleep here one last night."

"Agreed," Kohaku said. "Come on, Rin."

Kagome dropped to her knees next to Kiki, who was asleep. She grabbed a large sheet of cloth and began packing medicines, herbs and a few books into it. InuYasha was preparing the food supplies. Mitsuko was filling a cooking pot with white rice to be carried when suddenly she dropped to her knees, clutching at her head.

"Mitsuko?!" Kagome cried, running over and grabbing the girl's hands. Suddenly, she could see the vision too.

_A sea. A red sea. Red because it was not water, but blood. Blood that burned. And there were faces in the fire, howling, screaming…_

_One was clear, one was distinct. A girl was screaming, collapsing into fire. A girl…_

"KAZEKO!" Mitsuko yelled, running from the hut, towards the south… where the armies were…

"_MITSUKO_!" Kazuki hollered, running after her, already wearing his exterminator uniform. Kagome stayed kneeling where she was. Staring at the wall as though she could see the girl's face in the wood- a familiar face.

"Kagome? Kagome!" Inuyasha said, kneeling next to her. Kagome turned to look at him.

"Kazeko?" she said quietly. "Was that her? Because… it looked like…"

_Just in case the reference to the colors of Isamu's bowl are beyond anybody, Red and White are considered lucky colors in Japan and are used abundantly at weddings. I don't know if they were considered just as lucky in the sixteenth century, but since I've found no evidence to the contrary then I'm going with it._

_And to Milenalupin- thanks for the pointers! Seriously, I've never received any formal education in Japanese, just what I've picked up from the manga and the web, so I'm glad for the nit-picking. I felt that I wanted Kazuki to use more formal speech than everyone else (I'm not sure why, it just felt ri__ght), but all I could find oe respectful addresses was a list of terms like Chichi in reference to father, Haha in reference to mother, so on. Because SesshoMaru suffixes the Chichi" with "-ue" in reference to his father, and Kohaku's "Ane-ue" is similar, I worked on the basis of adding "-ue" to these words when using them in reference to your own relatives (I figured it was only your own because Myoga also occasionally uses "Chichi" in reference to InuPapa, but adds "-gimi" instead of "-ue). I think I'll stick to this when he's talking about his older sisters or parents, but I will switch to adding "-chan" to Imoto and Ototo instead. I was having the others use variations on "Onee" and "nii" in reference to their siblings, with the "chan" or "san" suffixes in reference to status because they're less formal, but I'm not too sure if that's how it works._

_Like I said, I have no formal education in Japanese (I'm working off of manga, my own scanty knowledge and translation sites) so if anyone else notices any serious errors in the language in use, please let me know. I'm using a bit more Japanese than usual for this fic because I'm hoping that putting what I know in context will help me learn. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

Kazeko pasted a subservient and loving smile onto her face as she filled her father's bowl, but inside she was screaming in fear. Why was he here so soon?

"The main force is still moving north," he said triumphantly, knowing full well that the villagers surrounding the door could hear him, "But the creatures are fleeing in our path, and we can't move fast enough. So I called up all the armies from the west which were decommissioned. It's not such a large force, but we should be able to catch up to the mononoke as we move, stop them escaping. I rode night and day to get here soon enough." There was a lot of muttering around the doorway. Kazeko's mother smiled broadly.

"But that's wonderful!" she said. "We weren't expecting you for the longest time, and to be frank we've been seeing more odd travelers. I thought they couldn't be human."

"Of course not," the captain said with a smug grin. "And since they are not humans, wearing our forms is thievery. Such evil creatures should not be able to mingle with decent people."

Kazeko gritted her teeth, stopping herself from saying what was on her mind, knowing that if she admitted a connection to any youkai that didn't involve killing them would be seen as betrayal. She thought of SesshoMaru-sama saving them from the lowlife bandits and clamped her jaw, stopping herself from asking whether 'decent' could really apply to most humans. She faintly caught the word 'youkai' in the crowd's murmurings, and prayed that her father wouldn't hear.

"In any case, if you see an injured youkai, you should kill it. If you see a living one, the army is encamped only a couple of hour's march away, less than an hour on horses. We will deal with these monsters wherever we find them."

"To bad ye weren't here a couple o'moons ago," one old man muttered loudly. Kazeko felt her breath freeze. "Ye'd've found one then." Kazeko stared at her father, silently begging him not to have heard, but he turned and stood, facing the elder.

"Were you attacked?" he asked seriously. "Was a youkai here?"

"Aye, there were," the old man continued, ignoring Kazeko's sudden trembling. The old man'd tell her father. She started to stand.

"I told you that you should have killed it, Kazeko," her mother said placidly as she filled her own bowl with vegetables. "No use healing it, I don't care how often it insisted that it only wanted the bandits dead…"

Kazeko wanted to run, but she couldn't seem to move. Her father had turned, slowly, on the spot, facing her, a dark rage igniting behind his eyes as he let out a visceral growling noise.

Kazeko braced herself for the first blow, but even so she hit the floor when it came. She gasped sharply when her father grabbed her arm and jerked her upright again. The assembled villagers screamed and ran. Kazeko's mother went white, realizing what she had said, but made no move to defend her daughter.

"HOW DARE YOU!"Yamazaki roared, slapping his daughter again. "_Sheltering_ a youkai! SAVING ITS LIFE! _HOW DARE YOU?_"

The blows kept coming, hard, as he raised his hand to her time and again. Kazeko hit the floor when he let go of her arm, only to be kicked in the ribs. She curled up, spitting out blood. Her mother screamed.

"Stop! STOP!" She pleaded, tugging at her husband's arm. "You'll kill her-"

"And we'll be better off for it!" He spat, pushing her away. The woman hit the wall hard and slumped onto the floor, unconscious. Kazeko took the time to pull herself upright and to try to run, but she felt pain all over, and she could barely do more than hobble. She clutched at her left arm. It was at a horrible angle. She couldn't move it.

Out of the corner of her eye, as she staggered under the trees, she saw her father chasing her, sword in hand.

"Ah-HA!" He yelled. "Going to get your youkai friends to kill us, eh? My own daughter, A _YOUKAI-LOVER!_"

Kazeko staggered on, horribly aware that her father was running much faster than her, impeded only by his lack of knowledge of the forest. She left the trees to find herself facing the cliff. She couldn't return to the forest- she could hear her father crashing towards her through the bushes- so she limped along the cliff edge, hoping to make it down to the path. She shrieked with pain as her fathers' sword grazed her arm, and she instinctively leapt away, in the wrong direction...

And she was falling, falling into darkness...

SesshoMaru narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the huge army encamped less than a mile from Kazeko's village. Kazeko's village itself was barely ten miles from Rin's. A considerable distance for humans, yes, but still unsettlingly close. Why were they here so soon?

It didn't matter. Yamazaki was definitely at home, then...

SesshoMaru stood, turning to the village. A nagging sense of unease, oddly familiar, was growing. He started to run. He had seen Yamazaki kill his own men. If he found that Kazeko had _saved_ a youkai...

As he came near to the cliff- _her­_ cliff- a scream suddenly pierced the evening. The strong scent of her blood came to him, and he looked to the cliff, his sharp eyes perceiving the falling body, and the man with the sword standing at the edge...

Pouring on speed, he shot vertically up the edge of the cliff, catching Kazeko and tearing the arm that held the sword from Yamazaki. The human fell to his knees, clutching the bloody stump, but he did not scream, did not even whimper, only glared malevolently at SesshoMaru.

"I know how much that hurts, trust me," SesshoMaru said softly, then looked at Kazeko, held against his Mokomoko-sama. Her skin was almost pure black. "But it's less than you deserve..." He cracked the claws of his left hand.

"Kazeko!"

The tigress- Mitsuko- landed atop the cliff edge and saw SesshoMaru holding Kazeko. "What'd that bastard do to her?" she whispered. Then she raised her own claws, glaring at Yamazaki with the light of hatred in her eyes. "I'll kill him!"

"Mitsuko! Stop!"

Rin's nephew, the houshi and taijiya's oldest boy, had scrambled up the cliff and grabbed the tigress around the waist with one arm, her right wrist with the other, stopping her attacking the man. She clawed at his arms with her left hand, drawing blood, but he did not let go.

"Calm, down, Mitsuko!" he grunted as she kicked him, but the girl refused to still, her eyes turning red with rage.

"No, I won't!" she spat. "He killed my family, he's killed dozens of other youkai, and he's not going to kill _one more person_-"

"Look at him!" Kazuki yelled. SesshoMaru glanced back at the man to see that he had collapsed, unconscious, the huge loss of blood weakening him. "He's hardly able to fight back now!"

"He didn't give _his_ victims a chance to fight back!" Mitsuko screamed, angry tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Exactly!" Kazuki said. "Do you really want to take yourself down to _his_ level? Look, he looks about to die from blood loss anyway, and if he does it's no more than he deserves, but you're better than him, Mitsuko, I know you are! Don't be like him. Please."

Mitsuko stopped struggling, and the boy tentatively let go of her. SesshoMaru lowered his own claws, both irritated and relieved that the boy was right. The tigress was sobbing again, sinking to her knees, clearly thinking of her lost family. Kazuki sat down beside her, carefully putting an arm around her shoulders, comforting her as she cried. He looked up at SesshoMaru.

"Is that Kazeko?" he asked. SesshoMaru nodded slightly. "Chichi-ue and the rest are making preparations to leave as soon as possible. If you take her back to the village now, we can patch her up and take her with us, to safety." SesshoMaru did not reply, but leapt down the cliff, heading to the village. Behind him, Kazuki picked up the still-sobbing tigress and, with one last contemptuous glance back at Yamazaki, followed.

Kagome, with Mitsuko's aid, carefully washed Kazeko's cuts and massaged a herbal salve into the bruises. She was pale-faced, but managing to remain professional. InuYasha, Rin, Miroku and Sango, however, were all staring at Kazeko in varying degrees of shock, and Kohaku looked on the verge of tears. InuYasha managed to bring himself to speak first.

"You only told us that she was a human girl that saved your hide," he said slowly. "You didn't tell us that she looked and smelled _exactly_ like-"

"I know who she looks like," SesshoMaru said quietly. "I know who perhaps she once was. And I also know who she _is_. I should think that _you_ would understand that better than anyone."

InuYasha returned to silence. SesshoMaru's words had brought back memories that he'd tried to forget, including the memory of a day that he knew SesshoMaru remembered better than he did, a day that smelled of blood and flowers...

"What do you mean?" Mitsuko said in confusion. Kazuki, standing by the doorway, stared from one face to the other, trying to discern some hint as to the girl's identity. SesshoMaru glanced once at Kazeko, then turned and left the hut. Kohaku sighed deeply, trying to compose himself.

"InuYasha-sama," he said quietly. "You said she even has the same scent as Kagura-sama did?"

Some comprehension dawned on Kazuki's face, but Mitsuko remained confused. InuYasha nodded.

"It's like... only Kagura's scent, not that bastard Naraku's," he said, and to a questioning look from Kagome, said, "Well, it's like, Naraku's scent was her base scent or something, but she developed a slightly different one of her own, and- aw, dammit," he said to continuing looks of confusion. "Look, it's a nose thing. Don't question it."

"What are you talking about?" said Mitsuko, sounding thoroughly bewildered. Kazuki beckoned to her to follow him.

"I'll explain it," he muttered. "It's a bit too complex from their point of view..."

"So what's the deal with that Kazeko girl?" Isamu asked Kazuki when he appeared by the lake edge. "Why did Otou-san and the others look so freaked out when SesshoMaru-oji-san brought her here?"

"Well," Kazuki said, noticing that Yuki and Haruka were there too, "according to everyone's eyes and a couple of noses, she's probably Kagura's reincarnation."

Yuki and Haruka looked at each other, and Isamu's eyes widened, and Mitsuko grew more frustrated.

"Who _is_ Kagura?" she asked angrily. Isamu looked over at her, and she was surprised at how sad he looked.

"_Was_," Haruka said softly. "She died twenty years ago."

"She was a highly skilled Kaze-youkai," Yuki said.

"She was one of that bastard Naraku's "children", but Kohaku-oji-san says that she wasn't evil like him." Kazuki said. "We'll explain Naraku in a minute," he added to a fresh look of confusion from Mitsuko.

"And..." Isamu added, looking around, as if he didn't think he had the right to say what he was saying. "Okaa-san thinks... she was in love with Oji-san. And they think that he... he cared about her too."

Some comprehension finally came to Mitsuko. She looked back at the hut, and the solitary silver figure standing on the roof, watching the south. For once, she could see not the future, but the past. An immeasurably sad past, a past of almost too much loss to be borne, saved from more by loneliness, yet followed by another loss of the only one who had breached those defences.

He was holding a feather.

"All right," she said quietly. Then she turned to Kazuki. "So who's 'Naraku'...?"

InuYasha walked to the door of the hut then jumped backwards, landing neatly on the roof in front of SesshoMaru. In a rare instance of tact and respect, he did not look at his half-brother until the sound of something small and soft being quickly stowed into armor had faded.

"How far away are they?" he asked evenly, remembering Kagome telling him of Mitsuko's cryptic message; _Three days_. It had been nearly two days since. Miroku and Kohaku were at the doorway to the hut, and he knew that though the women were inside, they could hear them.

"A little over a day," SesshoMaru replied stoically. "They may be delayed by their general's injury, but equally he may be spurred on to move faster because of it."

"We need to move soon, then," Miroku said, watching the skyline. In the fading light, there was a distant orange glow on the horizon, to the right of where the sun had set.

"We need to delay them," Sango added. "The kids getting away safe is a priority."

"I've got an idea," Kagome said thoughtfully, looking at the thin main path that threaded through the rice fields to the village.

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

"Don't worry, Inuyasha," Kagome said soothingly. "Miroku and Sango will back me up. We can't risk them sensing or seeing any youkai, and you and SesshoMaru fall quite visibly into that category."

"Fine, but promise you'll retreat the second they get suspicious," InuYasha said seriously.

"So we're agreed?" Kohaku said.

"We'd better tell the older ones what to do," Sango said, gesturing over to the five teenagers who were in deep conversation. They walked over, Kazuki talking fast to finish explaining something to Mitsuko.

"… in her funeral pyre," he was saying. "But it reappeared with her reincarnation."

"Okaa-san," Isamu added.

"Story time later, pups," InuYasha cut in. "Listen, the army's going to be here within the next two days, so you're moving now. You five're gonna have to look after the little ones-"

"Us?" Yuki cut in. "What about you all? Aren't you coming?"

"Not yet," Sango said. "We've come up with a diversion that should hopefully send them back west, which will give us all some extra time."

"You're all staying? But what if they don't fall for it?" Kazuki said with a frown. "They'll attack you! Hell, they'll _kill_ you!"

"Believe it or not, we aren't that bad at fighting," Kohaku said dryly.

"Yeah, we've taken immensely uneven odds before and done fine," Miroku said. "Endlessly regenerating zombies, airborne youkai- the only problem we'll have with this lot is that we're just too morally superior to kill mortals. KO's only."

"Stop joking!" Isamu said. "There's no fucking way we're leaving you behind! We'll fight too-"

"No, you won't," Kagome cut in quietly but sharply. "You are going to get out safe."

"You're staying too?" Isamu said in shock. "Okaa-san, you're _pregnant_-"

"It's not showing yet, and our diversion plan hinges on a stranger that they'll believe unquestioningly," Kagome said, cutting her son off again. "Which means either a houshi or a miko, and since they'll draft a houshi, I'm the only one left."

"Don't worry, we'll keep her safe," Miroku said. "We couldn't fight as well if our children were in danger, anyway."

"So you have to take the time to get yourself and the younger ones as far away as possible," Rin said. "Go all the way north, straight north, then move along the coastline until you can see an island, any island, although preferably a large one. If you can get past the coastal fishing villages undetected, the army will have no way of knowing what happened to you."

"No more arguments," InuYasha growled as all five teenagers opened their mouths at once. "Pack all the food, medicine and anything that you can't leave behind into a couple of packs. The five of you can all run at a good speed, but at least two of you'll be carrying your little brothers and sisters, and someone'll need to carry Kazeko. She's to beat to move on her own, but we can't leave her here."

"Where'd SesshoMaru-sama go, anyway?" Kohaku said, looking over his shoulder.

Kazeko resurfaced from the soft blackness into a world of pain. Only, it was less than before, much less. She was inside now, someone's hut, but not one of the ones from her village.

"You are awake?"

SesshoMaru's voice pulled her back into full consciousness. She groaned as she tried to sit up, and nearly fell over. A strong arm steadied her.

"Be careful. You're badly hurt."

She managed to open her eyes and focus, and saw SesshoMaru watching her. Though his face was still stoic, she could tell that he was concerned.

"Where's…" she murmured, "Where's Otou-san? What happened? Did…" Suddenly it dawned. She was in the village where SesshoMaru's friends lived. So… "Did you save me?"

"Of course." SesshoMaru sat down next to her, satisfied that she could sit up on her own now. She could, though she still felt weak. Her arm was in a sling. "But his armies are moving soon. You are going to leave here tonight with your friend Mitsuko and the other children. A few of us are staying to divert the soldiers and, if necessary, fight them to buy you all time to get away."

"No way!" Kazeko said. "A few of you against Otou-san's army?! It may not be the main force but it's still several hundred strong!"

To Kazeko's surprise, SesshoMaru was smiling slightly. "So there's seven of us against less than a thousand of them?"

"Seven?" Kazeko replied angrily. "The numbers are over fifty to one as it is! The odds are too uneven!"

"I know that it sounds that way, but it's a little more balanced considering one of our number's powers don't have much effect on humans," SesshoMaru replied. Kazeko gaped at him. "Kazeko, all of us who stayed to fight have faced much worse odds before, more skilled opponents. If it makes you feel any better, there's a good chance that there'll be no fighting at all." Kazeko hesitated.

"You'll leave to catch us up as soon as you can?" Kazeko said. SesshoMaru nodded, then stood and drew a sword, scabbard and all, from his belt. She'd noticed before that he had two, and he'd drawn the blue one. He placed it on the pallet next to her. "No, I can't take your sword," She protested, but SesshoMaru refused to take it back.

"I do not need it," he said. "It is of no use in battle. I have Bakusaiga for that." He touched the hilt of the brown sword with the odd runes all along the blade. "That sword is the Tenseiga, a blade of healing. It will protect you in my stead." Kazeko slowly reached out with her right hand and grasped the scabbard.

"Arigatou," she said quietly. "I promise you that I will look after it until we meet again in the North."

"Until we meet again, then," SesshoMaru said, inclining his head as a boy wearing a dark brown bodysuit and green armor walked into the hut, wrapping something like an extremely large sling around his chest.

"Nice to meet you, Kazeko-san," he said formally. "My name's Kazuki, and I'm going to be your one-man carriage for the duration of this high-tailed flight. Ready to go?"

SesshoMaru held out a hand to help her stand enough to sit in the sling Kazuki was using to carry her more comfortably. She squeezed the inu-youkai's hand, and couldn't help smiling when he squeezed very slightly back.

"Holding on tight?" Isamu asked Michio. The boy nodded, squeezing his grip around Isamu's neck a little tighter and wrapping his ankles around Isamu's waist. Isamu hefted Michio's halberd and tied it around his chest, using it to secure Michio in place in the event that he should lose his grip. Kiki and Hitomi were hugging their respective mothers and crying. Kagome was talking softly to Kiki to soothe her, whilst Sango pressed a small metal sword of unknown origins (her own was in her belt) into her daughter's hands, telling her to look after herself and they'd all see each other again in the north.

Mitsuko had tied her long hair into a two-toned ponytail before wrapping Akira tightly to her back. The little boy had also intelligently wrapped his sister's ponytail around his little wrists. Yoshinori was securing Tsukiko to his chest with a sling similar to the one that Kazuki was using to carry the injured Kazeko. Mitsuko would be carrying him and Takumi in her arms. Rin had been very worried about being separated from Tsukiko when the child was only a few months old, but the little girl was partially weaned and so long as one of her older cousins could bargain for a little milk from a village, she should be all right. Takumi, for his part, had been very quiet after hugging his parents goodbye, while Michio and Yoshinori had stern looks on their faces, clearly deciding that, as "men", they had to be strong.

Yuki and Haruka were both clutching large bundles of food and other supplies. Haruka had readjusted the holsters for her nunchaku on her hips so access to them would not be impeded by bundles of supplies, but Yuki had very insistently pressed Hiraikotsu back into her mother's hands, on the basis that "I'd prefer you to crack heads than to get yours cracked." Instead, slung across her back was Yoshinori's seven-foot teak staff, the weapon being too long for him to use at his current height, but he would grow into it soon. Mitsuko couldn't carry it because of the inscriptions carved along it, giving the staff extra power against youkai. Kazuki had quietly put Tenseiga into his belt and slung his ball-and-chain into the appropriate holsters, which had been moved to his back to give Kazeko room.

Isamu was stooping to pick up Kiki and Hitomi when his father tapped him on the head with something and, when he stood, pressed it into his hands. Isamu nearly dropped it when he realized that it was Tessaiga.

"Are you joking, Otou-san?" he said in mixed awe and incredulity. "You can't give me Tessaiga! You're the one fighting an army-"

"Listen, pup, Tessaiga's no good against humans," InuYasha growled, "whereas you're gonna be running into a lot of scared and fleeing youkai. Some of 'em'll have remained decent, some won't have, and there's always the wild youkai. You need the blade more than I do. When it comes to humans," he added, to Isamu's reopening mouth, "I'm better off with my fists, and as for youkai, I don't think there's one left alive that Kagome couldn't wipe the floor with. Take it. When we get to the islands, we'll track down that old baka and get your blade, all right?" Isamu finally gave in and slid Tessaiga into his belt, a little overawed at getting such a famously powerful sword to use, even if it was only temporary.

"I am leaving for the rendezvous point," SesshoMaru said as the littler children climbed into their carrier's arms, the boys on the verge of tears and the girls already falling. He bowed his head and, seeming to most of them to be mainly speaking to Kazeko, "Good luck. We will meet again on Hokkaido." In an instant, he was gone.

"I'd better follow him, the plan's fucked if they come through the village and see me," Inuyasha muttered. Kagome nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "Look after each other. If you ain't all on Hokkaido, the living ones're gonna pay." With a wave, he ran off towards the east.

"We'd better move, then," Isamu said. The time for hugging and tearful goodbyes had passed; there was a dreadful urgency now, as the plan seemed to have been set in motion by InuYasha and SesshoMaru's departure. There was now already a feeling that they were falling behind. They could only hope that all would go to plan, and they would be together again in Hokkaido. Isamu could only place his faith in the childish belief that nothing could hurt his parents, that they wouldn't lie to him and they'd all be together again very soon. With a last look back at his mother, Isamu turned and ran, through the forests to the north.

"Arigatou Gozaimasu," said Mitsuko, a little tearily, "for everything. I pray our paths meet again on Hokkaido." Kazuki touched her arm and they both took off after Isamu. Haruka and Yuki both nodded to their parents and followed. The adults were left behind, at the edge of the fields. The village was empty, the villagers taking refuge around the lake, safe from any fighting which would happen. Kirara hopped up onto Miroku's shoulder, bristling with excitement to be entering the fray again after all these years. Sango passed him Hiraikotsu and pulled the neck of her long kimono a little closer, covering the Taijiya gear underneath.

"I guess we'd better move too, Sango," Kagome said, but she also found it immensely difficult to tear her gaze away from the trees where her children had vanished, and in that moment it seemed almost as if it would be forever.

InuYasha walked into the canyon mouth and sprinted up the cliff-side. There were loose boulders on all sides on the thin canyon entrance; its size and instability would be their greatest asset if things came to a fight. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Of course, he didn't _want _ to fight, but if he did he'd make sure that a damn sight less of the bastards would be going after his kids afterwards. Anyway, he hadn't had a _real_ fight, not one against someone he could really hurt (he always had to pull punches with the pups or Kagome would purify him into her era), not for a long time.

SesshoMaru was standing near the canyon mouth, clearly ready to send several tons of heavy stone death at the first soldiers to come through. InuYasha knew that his half-brother hated bandits, and that he had even more reason to hate Yamazaki, but the pure animosity he bore for all of the soldiers was a little odd. InuYasha had been very surprised that the bastard had consented to work _with_ them to fight the armies. That his hatred was strong enough to work with a "worthless hanyou" and several "useless humans" had floored InuYasha, as had his determination to save the youkai in the south.

"Why do you care so much about this?" he asked bluntly. "All offence intended, it's beyond weird that you care so much for all these 'peaceful youkai'. I mean, the slaughter's terrible and all, but why do _you_ actually care?"

SesshoMaru wasn't looking at him, but the hairs on InuYasha's neck prickled as the tall youkai's aura shifted very slightly, clearly giving the message that InuYasha should be glad that he wasn't looking at him. Still facing away, SesshoMaru finally spoke.

"I have seen such genocide once before," he said, very quietly, "and have no desire to see it repeated."

"In one of Totosai's less sane moments, he rambled on about some massacre in the West when I was a pup. Is that it?"

"It happened only a short while before you were born," SesshoMaru said, but did not offer more information and it felt to InuYasha like pushing for it would be asking for trouble that he didn't need, not right now. He just shrugged and sat down, looking towards the village rather than the valley. It was unnatural and always made him a little guilty, because he'd made it. Gokuryuuha valley was more than a little self-explanatory in origin. It made him think of the countless armies of the dead humans. And they were about to face a far more terrifying enemy- living ones.

_Gokuryuuha was the ultimate attack of the evil sword Sou'unga, which possessed InuYasha at the beginning of the third movie. Like a large twister, it obliterated a good-sized crevasse near the village, and for that matter the village itself (The villagers having quickly made themselves scarce when InuYasha turned up in full-youkai mode)._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

_**Chapter Fifteen**_

Despite his calm exterior, general Yamazaki was seething with rage. First his daughter had betrayed him- not that that _slut_ was his daughter, not any more. Then his wife hadn't woken up. He vaguely remembered her hitting the wall hard, during his rage. The healer said that that hit had cracked her skull and swollen her brain. And by the time he had crawled back to the village – armless and half-dead from blood loss - she had passed on.

Well, he would have his revenge. His left hand gripped the hilt of his sword as he remembered the detestably calm face of the tall youkai that had attacked him. He would pay, and Kazeko too, along with anyone else who stood in his way.

The path through the forest widened, and he could see a village ahead, across some fields. At the point where the forests ended and the fields began, in the centre of the path, stood a woman. As Yamazaki drew closer, he recognized the garb of a village miko. She was staring at the western mountains with a look of serious concern. He raised his hand to stop the army which, like large moving bodies of people everywhere, ended in a ripple effect as those who could see him stopped and those who couldn't bumped into the men in front of them.

"Miko-sama!" he called. "I am general Yamazaki. My army is passing in a hunt for mononoke. Move from our path."

The woman turned to him and bowed her head respectfully. "It is good that you are here, Yamazaki-sama," she said. "Not long ago I felt a vast concentration of evil energy flowing through the mountain pass." She pointed to the mountains that she had been watching, and Yamazaki could discern a small gap, where his army could pass through the mountains without having to climb them. "I would investigate and destroy it but I cannot abandon the villagers."

"There is no need," Yamazaki said. "We are well-practiced in destroying large numbers of youkai. If we move now, we should catch them by-"

"Yamazaki-sama, it is a trap!"

One of the monks had pushed through the soldiers and was now standing by Yamazaki's horse, pointing an accusing finger at the miko, who was now wearing an expression of deepest shock and hurt.

"You should not be so disrespectful to a holy woman, even if you are a monk yourself!" Yamazaki motioned to a couple of the soldiers but the monk shook his head frantically.

"She seeks to distract us, to divert us!" He insisted.

"Houshi-sama, I seek only to assist your lord," the miko said sadly. A peasant woman had stepped from the fields with a covered basket.

"Miko-sama, what's happening?" she asked, probably scared that there would be more war. Near the rear of the army, though Yamazaki could not see them, a woodcutter and his wife were making the same enquiry of several soldiers. Two of the soldiers at the front gently grabbed the monk's arms, a little scared that the gods would strike them down for manhandling a holy man. And all the while the mad monk kept yelling.

"She is deceiving you, Yamazaki-sama!" he yelled angrily. "She is no miko at all, no holy woman! _She is a youkai!_"

"Houshi-sama!" the miko protested, but Yamazaki's eyes narrowed when he saw her hand give a little involuntary jerk near her stomach. He motioned to the guards to release the monk.

"She has the aura of a youkai!" the monk spat. "these monsters are too audacious, stealing the forms of our holy servants!" The village woman had moved between the monk and the miko and was looking from one to the other in bewilderment.

"Yamazaki-sama-" the miko protested again, but he cut her off by drawing his sword.

"Silence, youkai," he said coldly. The peasant's eyes narrowed on the blade. "Stand aside, woman, and we shall reveal your false miko for what she truly is."

"Not a chance," the woman said impertinently. In a sudden move she threw her basket into the air, over the soldier's heads. The cover fell off and so did the contents.

Smoke bombs.

The men yelled and choked as they were enfulged in thick green smoke. Seconds later, more smoke billowed from the rear of the army, and Yamazaki turned, peering through the smoke. A woodcutter and his wife were running and ducking _through_ his soldiers, trailing more green smoke from bamboo tubes and wearing masks which covered the lower halves of their faces. He swore and turned, slashing his sword at the first woman, but she ducked and tore away her cheap yukata, revealing a black bodysuit with red-and-pink armour that made her look like some kind of ninja, a swift assassin. She drew a sword of her own and parried her next attack. The other two 'peasants' ran past her, discarding their own poor clothing to reveal ninja outfits beneath. As they ran past the miko- they were inhumanly fast- he saw that a what appeared to be a giant white cat had appeared, and a monk was pulling the miko onto its back. The she-ninja leapt backwards and grabbed the monk's hands as the cat jumped up and _flew_ away.

"After them!" he roared, spurring his horse forwards. The choking, sputtering troops tried not to bump into each other too much as they worked their way out of the smoke and back into formation. They stampeded out of the trees and across the fields, destroying the recently-harvested rice paddies. They stormed through the conspicuously empty village. So it was a trap. The ninja were presumably youkai too, or dark warriors. The two on foot had already vanished, and he could see the flaying cat- clearly another youkai- making for a large, unnatural-looking crevasse to the east. Probably a relic of some huge earthquake, but that was unimportant right now.

They neared the mouth of the crevasse. There was a single path into it, maybe enough for seven abreast, and in the dead center stood a tall, white figure. A detestably familiar one.

"Artillery up, Infantry forward! _CHARGE!_" He screamed, as they swarmed into the valley.

Kirara landed on one of the cliff-tops on the edge of the crevasse as Rin and Kohaku ran through the valley entrance. Kagome dismounted. Since her holy powers didn't have any effect on humans, she had to stay out of the way of the battle.

"Stay up there, Kagome!" InuYasha hollered, cracking his knuckles. "Miroku, Sango, get yer asses down here!" Sango and Miroku slid down the valley walls, Kirara staying behind to protect Kagome. They quickly slipped into positions which, they had ascertained earlier, were out of view of the canyon mouth, but SesshoMaru moved into the center of the path.

"What the hell are you doing?" InuYasha said, but had to stay out of sight because the general, sword in remaining hand, was riding into the ravine, with the army on his heels. As he drew level with the loose boulders piling on the canyon walls, SesshoMaru whipped out Bakusaiga and slammed it into the ground, unleashing the _kuchiku no kizu_ which ran through the rock and tore the ground from underneath the men's feet, while the loose stone cascaded into the ground, taking the unstable valley walls with it. Yamazaki made it through, with a few soldiers, but the rest were crushed or blocked. Sango and the others instantly moved to take out the soldiers, but Yamazaki rode straight for SesshoMaru, consumed by hatred.

He was a skilled swordsman, or would have been with his right hand, but SesshoMaru was better. He calmly ducked and parried the man's slashes, but then he swung Bakusaiga and cut through Yamazaki's blade and ride, eventually making contact with the man's chest. Horse and rider fell motionless to the ground with the unconscious soldiers.

"I'm glad it didn't come to more than that," Sango said, but an instant later there was a rumble like thunder and a terrible scream, and a huge explosion threw them all into the air.

Kagome watched with some horror as a whole unit of men were crushed in the landslide. The deaths sickened her, but she knew that there was little alternative, not when those men who did survive would come after her children once again. InuYasha and the others were knocking out those who had made it through, and SesshoMaru was duelling Yamazaki.

Suddenly, Kirara growled menacingly and moved to hide Kagome. She turned to see several men creeping out of the trees. Some were lighting grenades, and several others were aiming their guns at her and Kirara. As the first group threw their sizzling explosives at the boulders blocking the army's path, and the rest fired their guns. Kagome felt a hot, sharp pain in her shoulder as she and Kirara were thrown from the cliff.

Kagome and Kirara were both falling, both trailing blood. Kirara changed into her small form as she fell.

"Kirara!" Sango yelled, climbing upright and running for the cliff.

"KAGOME!" screamed InuYasha, quickly overtaking her and catching both the Nekomata and the miko. He handed Kirara to Sango as he cradled Kagome. She was clutching her right shoulder, from which thick red blood was oozing. InuYasha felt his heart stop for an instant, as if he were seeing a ghost.

"I'm all right," Kagome muttered, as if knowing his fears. "It's not bad, I'll be all right... quickly, before the gunmen reload."

InuYasha looked up. At the cliff top, a group of men were lighting their guns. Behind him, Miroku, Kohaku and Rin picking themselves up off of the ground as SesshoMaru fought the first soldiers to be climbing over the destroyed remains of the boulders. Sango, with a growl of rage, clutched the injured and feebly mewing Kirara to her chest and entered the fray, swinging Hiraikotsu at head-height. The gunmen aimed for her.

InuYasha shot up the cliff towards them, his vision turning redder as if his mate's blood were staining him. He shot past the row of men, claws extended, their guns and in some cases hands falling in pieces behind him. The men slumped over, clutching at their bleeding appendages. More men were raising explosives, but InuYasha quickly cracked them all on the head, and as they fell unconscious, their grenades fell off of the cliff-edge and fell among the soldiers. InuYasha felt his rage give way to a sickened disgust as men were torn apart in the fire, blood gushing into the sky. InuYasha leapt across the canyon to the opposite cliff-edge, snatching Kirara from Sango's grasp, and placed both of them into a small cave that had worn into the valley walls. The soldiers wouldn't be able to get into here.

"Stay here. Patch up your wounds. And don't you dare die, okay?" InuYasha ordered, though beneath the arrogance was a perceptible level of pleading. Kagome smiled warmly at him.

"I'll be all right," she repeated. "Go help the others. You can't leave something this important to a bunch of annoying humans and your bastard brother, can you?" she added jokingly. InuYasha nodded and left to rejoin the fight.

_There are bonuses to fighting overwhelming numbers if you know where to look for them_, Sango thought as she swung Hiraikotsu at the nearest soldiers. They all fell unconscious with bleeding lumps on their heads. Firstly, no matter _how_ many hundred of them there were, it wasn't as if _all_ of them could reach you at once, especially if they'd formed a tight circles, likes the ones around her and Miroku, or Kohaku and Rin. InuYasha only had a semicircle around him because his back was to the stone wall, about ten feet below the cave where Kagome and Kirara were hidden. SesshoMaru had a considerably wider circle around him, because he was quite effortlessly slaughtering anyone to get within six feet of him, not that any of the soldiers seemed too keen to be. And that was the second thing. Who's going to take too many risks or do anything dangerous when you're surrounded by a hundred other men who can do it first? And thirdly, when it's a hundred to one, then you know that wherever you swing your giant boomerang, you'll almost _certainly_ hit an enemy.

All in all, any decently skilled and fit fighter could deal with near-endless hordes of the average, Sango reasoned. Quantity was no match for quality, as was being demonstrated by the growing mound of soldiers with Hiraikotsu-induced headaches or a shakuju in the gut that were lying sleeping around her and Miroku. Through the gaps in the ranks, she could see that Kohaku and Rin were holding their own in a similar fashion. Sango was proud of both them, but especially Rin.

After the death of Naraku, Rin had elected to live with Kaede, whose advancing years meant that she needed a little help, and SesshoMaru agreed because he felt that Rin's place was among humans, not wandering randomly with a daiyoukai. Rin had assisted Kaede with her day-to-day tasks, but she had refused to train as a miko- she wanted to train as a taijiya. For various reasons, she disliked handling weapons, and she didn't have time for full training anyway (at nine years old, in Sango's old village, she should have already been training for four years), so Sango simply did strength, athletic and martial arts training with the girl, and Rin had excelled. With her small size had come a natural speediness, and once she built up some muscle she soon became a force to be reckoned with, weapons or not, not that you'd know it from her normally sweet disposition.

Most of the men around Rin were falling to a little speciality of hers- a rapid-fire punch, her tiny fists sinking into their stomachs ten times a second, an experience not unlike being kicked by a horse with both back hooves at once- although an unlucky few were falling to some rather devastating kicks. Sango hoped they didn't want any more kids.

Kohaku was whipping his Kusarigama in wide arcs, the huge weight cracking men's heads and the chain taking their legs out from beneath them. The chain extended almost indefinitely, a hallmark of it being a youkai weapon- a couple of years after Naraku's death, Totosai had reforged the sickle, giving it the powers of a youkai blade. A youkai weapon could not be handled safely by normal humans, but in the hands of a skilled taijiya- which Kohaku certainly was- It was a great asset, as was noticeable by the fact that the chain also moved like a snake, in curves that would normally be impossible.

Yamazaki's body had disappeared in the confusion- probably buried beneath the thick layer of dead or insentient soldiers lying in the canyon bottom. Some were running now, clearly having noticed that the army wasn't beating the six evil spirits in the valley. Through the thinning ranks, Sango caught Rin's eye and nodded. She tapped Miroku's arm and a second later, all at once, the four humans broke from their rings and ran full pelt towards the other end of the valley, their taijiya training and Miroku's holy powers meaning that they quickly outstripped the soldiers. SesshoMaru had disappeared an instant later, and InuYasha had leapt into the cave and come running after them, holding Kagome and Kirara. A few soldiers chased them, but soon gave up and returned to clean up their dead friends and treat the living. The fight was over- at least for now.

"_Kuchiku no kizu" means "Scar of Destruction" and is the name I made up for that highly destructive thing that Bakusaiga does, the wound that keeps on hurting. I had to make something up because, to my knowledge, it has no name. The only problem is, the site that I searched "destruction" in also came up with "_**_kujo", "metsubou", "toukai" and "inmetsu". I just went for the one that sounds best, but if there's someone out there who's better at Japanese and has realized that one of the other words is much better suited, please, please let me know. Thank you._**

_Oh, and I take the third movie, "Tenka Hado No Ken", as canon, but aside from that I don't count the other movies or most of the anime. It's just the manga and THNK, really because a) I love it and b)because otherwise, we don't know a bloody thing about InuPapa and a lot less about Izayoi._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

_**Chapter Sixteen**_

The farmers began leaving the fields as the sun lowered on the horizon. They did not want to be outside the village after dark, not with so many dark youkai floating around. They stopped as a young man stepped out of the woods. He was laden thick with bags, a baby in his arms.

"Please," he called, "Can anyone spare some milk? She's too young to eat solids."

Several of the older mothers of the village instantly crowded around him, on bringing a small pail of milk.

"The poor thing!" one woman said. "Where's her mother?"

"Gone," the stranger said, looking infinitely weary. The women all clucked their tongues sympathetically and fed the baby some milk. "Can I trouble you for a little in a bamboo tube, for the road?" he asked one of the woman. "We must be moving on."

"But you can't!" the women cried. "Stay here tonight, we'll help you take care of the little one."

"I can't," the man said. "I must make it north, to my parents, before winter arrives. I have a long way to go and I'm sure that I can make it through the forest before sunset. Please, I do not want to be out in the dark."

After some time of pleading, the women finally consented to give the man a couple of bamboo tubes full of milk. "Mind to check the temperature, cool it in a stream or some such," the women warned and, after several more entreaties to the man to stay, he moved on into the forest, waving and shouting his thanks.

Because everyone had been watching and fussing over the poor widower, nobody noticed a few dark shapes briefly flash past along the edges of the fields.

Once the village was out of sight, Kazuki dropped his packs onto the ground and said aloud, "Dammit, Ane-ue, how the hell can you _run_ with these?"

"Do you have any idea how much Hiraikotsu weighs?" Yuki asked, grabbing the packs and leading Kazuki back to the campsite, muttering "wimp" under her breath.

"I got spare milk, too," Kazuki announced as he handed the now-sleeping Tsukiko to Haruka, "enough for a couple of days, unless- does Akira need some too?" he asked, now addressing Mitsuko, who shook her head.

"No, he has his teeth, so he needs meat now," she explained. "Since tigers are carnivorous, I'm afraid we can't really eat vegetables and such, not unless it's with meat."

"Then be glad you've got a hunter," Isamu said, dropping several rabbits by the fire, having evidently gone hunting while Kazuki was playing the "poor young widower (with baby)" card.

"At least we know how to feed Tsukiko," Kazuki said. "Honestly, they all but gave me a cow. Ladies of a certain age seem unable to stop themselves mothering every baby in reach, let alone one without a mother of it's own."

"Let's cook the rabbits. I'm hungry!" Michio complained, pulling out his little knife and starting to skin one of the biggest ones. Yoshinori followed suit while Kiki and Hitomi recoiled, looking horrified at the fluffy little bunnies lying dead upon the ground.

"That's disgusting," Hitomi whimpered. Haruka pulled Isamu aside.

"Next time, better clean the rabbits _before_ you bring them back, or take the boys with you and have them do it," she muttered. "I don't know if Onee-chan and Kiki-chan will be able to eat, now." Isamu looked at his sister and sister-in-law-to-be's ashen complexions and nodded. Mitsuko had picked up Akira and Tsukiko and given them to the girls to look after, effectively taking their minds off of the dead rabbits. Kazeko was digging one-handed through the bag containing medical supplies. Kazuki walked over and, sticking both hands in, pulled out a tube containing some medicine for bruises.

"Kagome-san said to rub some of that in every evening, to stop the bruises swelling," she explained.

"Want me to massage it in for you?" asked Kazuki with a grin that clearly said that he knew he was going to get slapped for it, but was saying it anyway. Isamu ignored the stereo crack of two hands meeting the same face.

"Here, let me give you a hand," Mitsuko said, unscrewing the lid as Kazuki walked away, making a huge show of feeling rejected and putting the younger children into hysterics.

"Baka," Yuki muttered with a faint grin. Isamu and Haruka both laughed too, but there was an underlying tenseness to the banter- a knowledge that the were only laughing so loudly to keep their younger siblings happy, to be strong when they were still so very afraid.

Haruka leaned back against Isamu's chest, staring at the stars and listening to the younger kids' deep breathing. Yuki, Mitsuko and Kazeko were all lying down, but they had their eyes open, staring at the fire. Isamu and Kazuki were both sitting upright, leaning against trees, and Haruka had sought the comfort of her fiancée's arms. The fear that she had hidden from the younger ones she was willing to show in front of him, her siblings, Mitsuko, who she had become such friends with, and even Kazeko, whom she barely knew. Isamu was sharing the same fears, if the way he was continually fidgeting with the hilt of Tessaiga was any indication.

"Will they... really be all right?" Mitsuko asked hesitantly, finally opening the topic for discussion. Kazuki sighed deeply.

"They will be," he said uncertainly, as if he was convincing himself as much as the others. "They have to be."

"We have to believe that the will be," Isamu said. "Even if they do get hurt-" Haruka couldn't help flinching at the thought, and he held her a little tighter- "going back will be of no help to them. In fact, it would just make all of their work useless."

"We have to look after each other and the littler ones," Yuki said firmly. "We all have to get to Hokkaido together. We'll see them again when we get there, I'm sure of it. Otou-san's right, if even half the stories they've told us are true, then they've faced a lot worse. And I have no reason to believe that they ever lied to us."

"What are the stories?" Mitsuko asked. "I mean, you only told me as far as InuYasha-san being sealed."

"We should start over, for Kazeko's sake," Isamu said, glancing over at the injured girl who was staring into the fire as though lost in thought. She must have been listening, though, because she looked up at her name.

"Stories?" she asked, with interest. "About what?"

"Shouldn't we sleep at some point?" Yuki asked.

"Do you think you'd be _able_ to sleep?" Haruka asked.

"We can talk until the fire goes out," Kazuki said. "Isamu and Mitsuko might be able to run forever, but us lowly mortals _do_ need rest to keep it up, may I remind you." Isamu punched him in the arm.

"Sounds as good a plan as any," Yuki said. "Anyway, it all starts with this miko called Kikyo and the Shikon No Tama..."

"Wait, we never explained about the Shikon No Tama, did we?" Haruka interjected. Mitsuko shook her head. "All right, it _actually_ starts hundreds of years ago, with this miko called Midoriko..."

From high up on the mountain, at the far end of Gokuryuuha valley, they could see the sea, and miles of land all around. It was a fairly good place to stay out of the army's radar, at least for a while, but it made SesshoMaru uncomfortable because it reminded him of InuYama, and a different sea, and those who had watched it with him and never would again.

He had elected, to varying levels of surprise, to remain with InuYasha and his friends, partly because it meant that he could keep an eye on the army- as far as he could tell, they were making camp and licking their wounds.

_Same as us, then,_ he thought as the wind shifted, bringing him the faint scent of the blood of the miko and the Nekomata, though both scents were much diminished. Both of them would be fine, although the Nekomata seemed too weak to change into her large form and as such their progress would be slowed a little. It made SesshoMaru impatient. He wanted to know what had happened to the children, to Kazeko.

He closed his eyes as the wind blew stronger. Kazeko. He hadn't really thought of it- or perhaps he had refused to think of it- before InuYasha had brought it up, but it was true. In face, scent and voice she was exactly like her. Like Kagura.

There were strong parallels- her strength of character, her pride, and yet the paradoxical gentleness in her soul- even the bastard of a father, for Kami's sake- it was all familiar, all something he had long abandoned the hope of ever recapturing.

_Could she truly have returned?_ SesshoMaru wondered with a wry smile. _And as a human, no less_.

Still, before he had thought about the possibility of reincarnation, he had, some part of him, longed to see the girl again, to feel the kindness and peace that she brought him. You _did_ get second chances, sometimes, even if you definitely didn't deserve them.

He gripped Bakusaiga's hilt, and thought of Tenseiga. It had not saved Kagura before- because she was not dead yet, because of the shouki, because of the darkness in her very blood because of Naraku, he did not know. It had failed him once, and he could only pray that it would not do so again.

"These things are horrible," Sango said angrily, staring at the bullet that she had carefully pried from Kirara's side. Most had dislodged and fallen out when Kirara transformed, but this one had gotten wedged in and had been hurting her. Rin gently wrapped the last of the little cat's wounds. Kirara mewed faintly and curled up to sleep. Sango was grateful that none of the wounds were themselves fatal, but hey still had to be careful of blood loss. Kirara would not be able to fly or transform for some time, but it could have been worse, as Myoga had pointed out (although not, it must be said, until the battle was over and all of them were safely out of harm's way).

"Though this army is newly formed, they already have experience," Myoga said. "In Yamazaki's haste, all but a few of the gunmen were forced to fight as infantrymen instead of being given time to unwrap and set up their guns. He normally goes in with a carefully constructed plan, using ranks of gunmen and archers rather than foot soldiers. I saw them take out a clan of youkai on their way here without unsheathing a single sword."

"I suppose they weren't expecting anyone other than SesshoMaru-sama and Kazeko-san," Kohaku said. "They thought it would be easy."

"Arrogant bastards," InuYasha grumbled around the cloth in his mouth. He was tearing an old kimono up to make a sling for Kagome, whose shoulder wound had stopped bleeding but was liable to tear open if she kept moving her arm.

"We made him angry, and angry men make mistakes," Miroku said, "but we can't count on it twice."

"You can't seriously think that Yamazaki's still alive?" Rin said incredulously. "Without him, the army will either have to find a new leader or go home, and with the number of casualties they sustained, I'd bank on the latter."

"Then we can move at sunup," InuYasha said. "We'd better find the pups and keep moving, 'cos even if those soldiers go home, by spring there'll be a new bastard in charge and a new campaign, so we need to be well out of it before it gets cold."

"I just hope that they haven't run into any trouble," Kagome said anxiously.

"... wounds are serious, Hayashi-sama, but the will to live is incredible!"

"Is it will to live or rage, I wonder?" Hayashi said, striding into the tent where the great general lay bleeding. Several monks were washing and wrapping the man's wounds. There was a huge, deep slash across his chest, the skin sewn clumsily together like a torn kimono. Yamazaki's face was screwed up in pain, but he did not utter a sound.

"Yamazaki-sama, it is Hayashi," he said, bowing before the injured man. Yamazaki opened one eye, enough to glance at the captain.

"Hayashi," he muttered quietly. "Were you killed too, or do I remain among the living?"

"I rather hope that I'm not dead," Hayashi said with a smile, "for I have a great plan, one to get the bulk of the army farther north, to lie in wait for these impudent youkai and slaughter them once they let their guard down." Yamazaki closed his eye again.

"Tell me tomorrow," he murmured, "I am so weary. If I die in the night, you are general, and can do whatever you please."

"It would please me to finish your great work, Yamazaki-sama," Hayashi said with another bow. He withdrew from the tent as a monk moved towards the general with a cupful of some potion.

"Drink this, Yamazaki-sama," he urged. "It will give you a painless sleep."

Hayashi moved onwards through the camp. It was almost entirely an infirmary, as there was barely a man uninjured and over a third of the men were dead. They all treated each others' wounds, lying in the open air, for there was no shelter- the village had been destroyed. Some of the villagers were helping with the care of the more seriously wounded. Hayashi had already apologised to the village elders, explaining that they had not known that the village was inhabited, for the villagers had been hiding in the forest. The elders said that they had been hiding from the youkai, but Hayashi suspected that they were lying, and he had heard the villagers whisper that they should not be assisting the men who had attacked their friends and their beloved miko.

"Sato!" he called, and the young man, his assistant, ran over to him with a roll of parchment. "What are the numbers?"

"Sixty more men have died of their wounds since the first assessment, and many more are well on the way," he said sadly. "All of the living are in some way injured, at least bruises and headaches, and worst crushed and severed limbs. A few men are literally holding their stomachs in, Hayashi-sama. That tall silver youkai dealt some of the worst damage, the others only seem to have knocked people out."

"Heh. Trying to be _merciful_, are they?" Hayashi said scornfully. "I saw a monk and three of those dark warriors in the field. What do they monks say about them?"

"Our monks say that the warriors and the monk were human, sir," Sato said doubtfully, "but they were inhumanly strong and fast. The male warrior, did you see the chain on his weapon? Definitely not something of mortals, in my opinion, or the giant boomerang one of the women was swinging around."

"So, four mortals and two youkai?"

"Three, sir. There was another silver one in red clothes, you must not have seen him. He tore the hands off several of the gunners, and destroyed the guns, too. All in all, Hayashi-sama, we don't have the men or resources to do anything but go home."

"Yes," Hayashi said with a dark smile, "that's what they think too."

_I'm having to put the story on hiatus for a while because I'm getting a new computer, and I'm having to transfer all of my files on to memory sticks so that I can put it on the new computer, so I won't be able to upload anything. And yes, the monk sensed Kagome's baby. At this point, she's just over four months along, so it would have been faint, but there. He didn't know that she was pregnant- he probably just thought that she had been concealing her aura._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. -


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter Seventeen**_

InuYasha was slowly waking up when a foot was applied to his head, accelerating the process. He sat up straight, blinking in the pre-dawn light, and glared at his half-brother.

"What the fuck was that for?" he growled, rubbing his head. "Why are you still here, anyway?"

"Shut up, baka. There have been scouts coming all the way up to the beach, they must be planning to ship all of the soldiers back south- Presumably, few of them are in any state to walk that far. At any rate, it would be prudent to be gone by sunup."

"Shit," InuYasha murmured, partly because he'd fallen asleep and hadn't noticed the soldiers being nearby (what if they'd climbed up to the cave?), and partly because he was going to have to take SesshoMaru's advice, dammit. The bastard was right, not that he'd ever say it. They had to move soon.

"Wake up, bouzo," he said, shaking Miroku. The monk stretched and yawned.

"Did I fall asleep?" he muttered, slapping his cheeks and reaching down to shake Sango gently. "Must be my old age, I was trying to keep watch."

_Not the only one,_ InuYasha thought, now feeling very pissed off at himself. At one time, he'd have woken up if someone _breathed_ too loudly within a mile of him, but he hadn't heard several humans blundering about too close by for comfort. The peace, the safety he'd felt for the past couple of decades wasn't something he'd trade for the world, but it did worry him that it meant that he could no longer tell when danger was nearby.

He carefully lifted Kagome upright to wake her, not wanting to shake her injured shoulder. Miroku was also waking up Rin and Kohaku as Sango began unwrapping a few late-summer fruits.

"Start eating, we'd better move soon," she said, tossing a couple to InuYasha. He caught them as Kagome yawned and stepped away from him, awake enough to hold herself up, and wincing slightly as the pain in her shoulder woke up too. When Rin offered one of the fruits in SesshoMaru's general direction, he ignored her, watching where the village had been in case of more scouting parties.

"Should we stick to the coast or move inland?" Kohaku asked, tying on his armor and placing various small hidden weapons and capsules into place.

"Inland," InuYasha said, taking a bite out of his fruit as Kagome grabbed hers. "We don't know where their boats are headed or coming from, and although there's a chance they won't be here for a while, they could just be waiting nearby. Anyway, we can't risk 'em seeing us."

"Besides, the children are inland," Kagome added. "I want to join up with them again as soon as possible."

"Humm hhmhumh," Sango said, which probably would have been "good idea" if she hadn't stuck her fruit into her mouth to keep it out of the way as she tied her own armor into place. Rin was wrapping a pack around her shoulders, Miroku and Kohaku doing likewise, but SesshoMaru still hadn't moved, still watching the enemy. Then he turned to face them.

"We leave now," he said. "They've started moving."

***************************************************************************************************

Kazuki drifted back into consciousness in fits and starts, which seemed to coincide with small bouts of rhythmic pain. He forced his eyes open and groggily watched Isamu poke him methodically in the arm. Upon noticing that his friend was awake, the pokes turned into punches.

"All right, I'm up," Kazuki grumbled. Dawn was just thinking about breaking. "Kami, when did you sleep?"

"Someone had to do the night watch," Isamu said, "and besides, I couldn't get to sleep."

"Because of the combined feelings of trepidation, fear and worry," Kazuki asked, stretching, "or because Haruka fell asleep in your lap?" Isamu punched him again in the arm- hard this time- before going to wake up Yuki. Haruka was tending a simmering pot of rice, which looked a little small for thirteen people.

"Mitsuko and Akira are having the last of last night's rabbit," she said when he came over to stare balefully at the pot, "and this is just for the older five of us. We're going to eat quick while I do a second lot for the littler ones. That way, we can pack while they're eating and be gone by the time the sun's cleared the horizon."

"Kami, I could just sleep until then," Yuki said, tying on her shoulder pads. "I mean, we've done hour-long endurance runs before- Okaa-san's either a slavedriver or the old taijiya clan were demented- but all day is quiet a stretch."

"We're not going that fast, and we can stop around lunchtime," Isamu said. "The main thing is to keep out of sight and ahead of any soldiers."

"Grab your bowls," Haruka said, ladling some rice into her own, "Then get your own food."

"And anyone taking more than their fair share gets a broken elbow," Yuki said, staring very deliberately at Kazuki as she said it.

Michio sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as they were eating, Mitsuko tending to the second round of rice while the last couple of rabbit legs cooked.

" 'r' we moving soon?" he murmured, then brightened up when he saw the rice. "Great, breakfast!"

"Wake everyone else up," Yuki said. "_Gently_. And leave Tsukiko and Akira to sleep. The sooner the others are up, the sooner you eat." Michio instantly starting poking Yoshinori rhythmically in the arm, making Kazuki snort rice out of his nose.

***************************************************************************************************

They were long gone from the campsite by the time the sun had cleared the horizon, the campfire buried to hide any signs of it being there. Those being carried had mostly fallen asleep again, except for Kazeko who, like the five runners, was too lost in her own thoughts, worries and fears to return to sleep once she had awakened. No-one talked, all following Isamu silently, with no questions if he abruptly changed course- he could smell villages and travelers miles before they saw them, and led the soundless detours accordingly.

The sun was rapidly climbing the sky, and around mid-morning the younger ones were beginning to wake up. They chattered to each other from time to time, but the teenagers remained focused, and so when Isamu stopped unexpectedly in the middle of a forest, they were able to follow suit in short order. Haruka raised a finger to her lips as the children raised a clamor, trying to find out what had happened.

"I sense it," Yuki said quietly.

"_Them_," Kazuki corrected. "They're close together." He placed Kazeko on her feet. She swayed slightly as she tried to keep her weight off of her twisted ankle.

"They don't feel that powerful," Haruka said thoughtfully, pulling Michio from Isamu's back as he set Kiki and Hitomi on the ground. Mitsuko was also putting Rin's children down, as Kazeko took Akira from her back.

"I smell snake," the tigress said. The children backed up against a particularly large tree. Kazuki handed Tenseiga to Kazeko as she limped over to join them. The other five put their backs to their younger siblings, watching the trees for a hint of movement.

"Fuck it, just show yourselves already," Isamu called. "You know you were going to anyway, considering how long you were following us without attacking."

"Puppy wantssss to play the guard dog, eh?" came a hissing voice. Three men came walking through the trees with a very odd gait. It was when they came closer that Isamu realized that it wasn't that they'd been walking weirdly- they were _slithering_.

Waist to neck, they were humanoid, though their skin was green and scaly, the largest one with the darkest hue. Below the waist, their bodies morphed into twenty feet of thick, scaly tail, and their heads too were like a snake's- flat, with slit pupils and wide mouths.

"Push off, snake," Isamu said, "or we'll shred you."

"Tough talk fffffor a hanyou and sssome humanssss," the lead snake hissed mockingly.

"Hello?" Mitsuko said, waving sarcastically.

"Look! Babiessss!" one of the lesser snakes whispered loudly, gleefully nudging his friend in the side and pointing to Akira and Tsukiko. Takumi and Hitomi clutched the babies that they were holding, while Michio and Yoshinori moved in front of them, Michio carefully holding his overlong halberd and Yoshinori drawing his sword. Kiki flattened her ears as she watched the hungry gaze of the snakes, and Kazeko, supporting herself on Tenseiga, moved in front of the scared children, hiding them from view.

"Children are tassssty," the lead snake said with a cold smile, "but babiessss are a delicasssssy. Adultsss have sssuch a nasssty flavour, so you ssssixxxx leave the little onessss and we won't bother killing you." Isamu narrowed his eyes at the snake. Unlike his lackeys, Isamu got the worrying impression that this one might be intelligent.

"Like hell," Kazuki said, nonchalantly swinging his mace at the leader's head. He ducked it with an angry hiss, and the other two lunged forwards.

One went straight for Isamu, Yuki and Haruka. Yuki shifted her grip on Yoshinori's staff as Haruka extended the blades in her nunchaku.

"Watch the tail!" Yuki screamed, and they all jumped aside as the thick, twenty-foot-long tail whipped past its owner's head and slammed into the ground where they had been seconds before. Isamu caught and acrid stench as the ground sizzled.

"It's poisonous!" he warned.

The other lackey had attacked Kazuki, who flung his mace into the air. It came down fast, slamming into the middle of the snake's tail. The spikes of the iron ball, aided by the force of its fall, tore through the tail, cutting it off. The snake howled in pain and lunged at Kazuki with its mouth open, showing long fangs.

"Watch out!" Mitsuko screamed, leaping up and delivering a midair kick to the snake's head. Something crunched. The snake fell to the side, missing his target of Kazuki's head but the fangs still scarping his forearm. Kazuki pulled back, hissing in pain as he tied the chain of his mace tightly around the arm, cutting off the blood flow- if the barbs on the tail were poisonous, the fangs certainly were.

Haruka whipped one end of the nunchaku at the snake, the gleaming blade embedding itself in its bulbous yellow eye. The snake screamed as she pulled it out again, and went for her, mouth open to bite, but Yuki intercepted it by shoving the blessed staff into its mouth. It screamed again as its throat sizzled and its fangs withered.

Figuring the twins could handle the snake, Isamu went to help Mitsuko, but then remembered the lead snake. In the confusion of the battle, it had slipped past and was now stalking Kazeko, who was backing away, the children behind her, holding up Tenseiga- she didn't know that it couldn't hurt the snake. Isamu changed course and went for the dark green serpent, but it was faster than him and was raising its tail to crush Kazeko. He drew Tessaiga and slashed it, aiming at the tail, but the blade turned white and shot energy forth- the Kaze No Kizu.

The flames enfulged the snake, obliterating it. The snake fighting Mitsuko was distracted, shrieking for its leader, but the tigress took advantage of the moment to bring her claws down and behead it. The one that had been fighting Yuki and Haruka had already vanished beneath Yoshinori's staff.

But the scar kept going. At the angle Isamu was at, they were going straight for Kazeko and the children.

There was a bright flash of blue light, and the Kaze No Kizu disappeared. Kazeko and the others were unharmed.

Yuki whacked Isamu on the head, mastering her rage just enough _not_ to use the holy staff. "What the _hell_ were you _doing_?" she screamed. "The _Kaze No Fucking Kizu_? You could have torn them apart!"

"I've never done it before," Isamu responded, a little shakily. "Otou-san let me use it once and I tried, but it wouldn't work. Totosai-sama said that youkai blades are very picky about who they work properly for, and you can't get any real power out of someone else's blade. I was just going to cut the snake's tail off."

"Maybe it's because you really, really wanted to protect them," Haruka said. "Isn't that what Totosai-sama said Tessaiga and Tenseiga were, really? Blades of defence. It'll not work for anyone but its master unless all they want to do with it is defend, not attack."

"It's a miracle they aren't in _shreds_!" yelled Yuki, still determined to be furious.

"I think it was Tenseiga," Kazeko said quietly. She was still holding up the sword. The blade was glowing bright blue, the same blue glow that had dispelled the Kaze No Kizu. As they watched, the glow faded and died. Kazeko slowly resheathed it. "It put up a barrier. It did it by itself, I don't know how it did it…"

"Tenseiga and Tessaiga are brothers," Isamu explained, "both forged from my grandfather's fang. Okaa-san said that they've been known to have odd reactions to each other, like Tenseiga putting up shields against Tessaiga's power. I'm not sure it'll be any good against other swords, though."

"Let's not count on that, though, okay?" Kazuki said weakly. "No matter _what_ I'm holding, I think the _last_ thing that I want to see is a Kaze No Kizu coming at me…"

"Normally, it's the last thing you see, period," Yuki growled.

"Oh, we need to get some medicine into that arm!" Mitsuko said, suddenly remembering Kazuki's injury. "Before the poison gets into your system."

"Or my arm dies and falls off," Kazuki added, gesturing to the unusual tourniquet around his arm.

Kiki, Hitomi and Takumi were all shaking with fear, but Michio and Yoshinori were both exclaiming that that was the coolest thing that had ever happened to them. Isamu watched Tessaiga transform into a rusty old blade and reverentially put it back into its sheathe.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_This chapter is dedicated to my brand spanking new computer! I love my parents. Happy Birthday to me!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter Eighteen**_

"Come in, quickly," the priestess said, looking intently down the hill in case there were any travelers coming to the temple. Thankfully, because it was very near to winter, the seven before her were the only ones to be seen in the fading evening light.

"Thank you, Nazuna," Kagome said, as they slipped into the temple's interior.

"Stay here as long as you want. I won't tell the army that you were here," she said, closing the door behind SesshoMaru.

"We owe you one," InuYasha said, making for where he vaguely remembered the guest rooms to be.

"No you don't," Nazuna said, lighting a lamp and leading walking ahead of him. "I never really repaid you for getting rid of the spider-heads."

"That was twenty years ago," Kagome said. Nazuna shook her head.

"It was a big deed and I remembered it. Besides, I recognized you two straight away. You barely look a day older."

"Are you still alone here?" Kagome asked.

The older miko- though she was really only a year older than Kagome, she looked much more- nodded. "Ever since… Ousho-sama. I don't have much to do in the winter but keep the place clean, and people some up from the nearby villages every day to bring me my meals. But no-one will know that you are here." She stopped and slid a door open. "You can stay in one of the interior rooms rather than the guest rooms. The people who come in the mornings would see you if you stayed there."

"Thank you so much," Sango said, setting down Hiraikotsu.

"Not at all. I owe your friends a lot. Sleep well; I don't have food enough to spare, I'm afraid."

"We couldn't put you to the trouble," Miroku insisted. "We have sufficient supplies. You've done more than enough." They all bowed their heads to Nazuna as she closed the door and left.

"Are you certain that she will not tell the army of us?" SesshoMaru enquired, sitting down against the wall near the door.

"I'm sure she won't," Kagome said as InuYasha rolled out a couple of pallets. "We helped her out a long time ago… actually, as I remember, that was the first time I saw you in human form, wasn't it?" she said, turning to her mate. He rolled his eyes.

"Kami, but that night was a disaster," he complained. He turned his back on the others as he winked at Kagome; they both remembered what he had said to her in the pre-dawn, when they had both thought that he would die from the spider's poison.

"Was that to do with the 'spider-heads'?" Kohaku asked, pulling off his armor and piling it by his own pallet.

"What happened?" Rin asked, sounding interested.

InuYasha starting piling wood from the log pile in the corner onto the fireplace in the middle of the room. "You tell the story," he said. Kagome raised her eyebrows. "You were the one who was conscious for most of it," he added. She smiled.

"Well, you _were_ conscious when you caught Nazuna when she fell off of the cliff…"

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_Kagome-sama is an interesting person,_ Kazeko thought, picking over the twenty-odd bottles of various antidotes. _I'm not too sure if I want to know why she created most of these._

Kagome created and mixed her own medicines, Mitsuko had explained, having spent a few highly instructive afternoons hunting down various herbs with the miko. The antidote for snake-youkai poison was right next to a couple for different types of normal snake poison. Also in the medicine pack were antidotes for the venoms of lizards, wasps, scorpions and spiders, in both youkai and normal variety. One of the spider jars was a little old and unused-looking, but there was no indicator of what _kind_ of spider it was for. She only knew that it was for spiders at all because, sketched onto the label tied around the jar, was a crude silhouette of a spider. The sketch gave Kazeko the creeps.

There were also antidotes to the venoms of cats, moths, bears and butterflies, although presumably for youkai breeds only. Another old-looking jar, although it looked more recently used than the spider one, was a jar where the label bore only a drawing of a blue crescent moon which looked uncannily like the one on SesshoMaru's forehead.

SesshoMaru....

Kazeko gripped Tenseiga's hilt. _It will protect you in my stead_.

That sword had saved her life. The odd thing was, she had heard Kazuki muttering when he thought she was out of earshot, that brothers or not, youkai blades simply never did anything in hands other than their owners, unless there was a barrier curse on them like the one on Tessaiga, and they _never_ did anything for humans. But Kazeko was human, 100%. So why had SesshoMaru-sama's blade protected her?

"Well, there _are_ exceptions," Isamu said, continuing the earlier conversation without, like Kazuki, realising that Kazeko could hear him. "Tessaiga was created for the protection of obaa-san- a human. It's also protected Okaa-san. Tessaiga created a Kaze No Kizu because I wanted to protect her and the kids- maybe Tenseiga wanted to protect her?"

"I don't wanna sound rude, but why would Tenseiga want to protect her?" Mitsuko asked.

"Maybe it's not really the sword that wants to protect Kazeko-san," Kazuki said almost inaudibly.

Kazeko carefully drew Tenseiga, scabbard and all, and hugged it to her chest. SesshoMaru had saved her from her father... the life-debt he owed her was surely repaid. So why would he continue to protect her...?

Unless...?

"EEEEYAAAGH!"

"Kazuki, you baby! It's only a little medicine!"

"But it _stings_!"

"Kami, are you seventeen _years_ old, or seventeen _months_?"

Kazeko turned around, then doubled over giggling. Yuki was holding Kazuki in an arm-lock while Mitsuko rubbed poison salve into the gash on his arm. Haruka and Isamu were leaning on each other to stop themselves falling over laughing, and the only children not rolling on the ground hooting were Takumi, Akira and Tsukiko, Tsukiko because she was probably too young to understand and Akira and Takumi because the two highly serious boys were merely sniggering. Kazuki was screaming in pain, although Kazeko strongly suspected that he was hamming it up.

"There, that should be enough," Mitsuko said, giggling behind her hand as she passed the poison salve to Kazeko to pack away. Yuki let her brother out of the arm-lock and sat back on her haunches to glare at him as he cradled the arm, whimpering theatrically, to further gales of laughter from the younger children. Suddenly, he turned to Mitsuko.

"Wanna kiss it better?" he asked, his face split into a wide, cheesy grin- a now very familiar one, one that clearly said that he knew that he would be slapped for it, but he was saying it anyway. True to form, Mitsuko turned bright red. Kazeko winced as Kazuki hit the dirt, Yuki and Haruka cheering Mitsuko on.

"You'll probably need this," she said with a chuckle, pulling out the pot of bruise medicine. The little altercation had washed away her deeper thoughts, but they were to resurface downstream and return to her- with a vengeance.

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"Hayashi-sama, I see nothing..." Sato called down to the captain, before climbing down the rocks. His foot dislodged something small and thin, which fell to the ground by Hayashi's feet. He knelt down and picked it up, twirling it thoughtfully in his fingers.

"Naval fools, they should have been here by now..." he muttered, glaring at the glittering sea as if it had offended him. He sniffed the small twig and then stilled, staring at it.

"Perhaps they were delayed..." Sato suggested, but Hayashi cut him off.

"This fruit does not grow here," he said thoughtfully. He twirled the stalk again. "Indeed, I have not seen any plant life in this crevasse."

"Hayashi-sama, it is often said that in places touched by powers of great evil, neither a tree nor a bush nor a blade of grass will grows for decades afterwards," the monk said. He was the one who had uncovered the false miko, and so he had accompanied Hayashi on the trip through the crevasse where they had been attacked. "In any case, I sense no youki in this vicinity now. If they were here this morning, they are long gone."

"They were here," Hayashi said, dropping the stalk. "They must have gone north, all of them do. Those ships had better get here soon, or else they will outstrip us."

"Hayashi-sama," Sato said nervously, "Forgive me, but we will have to send most of the men home. We have too few able fighters to continue to chase the youkai. We should go home for the winter; it is augured to be a long and fierce one."

"The youkai will be dead by the first flake of snow," Hayashi said, striding back to his nervous horse. "I have a plan..."

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"So, where were we last night?" Yuki asked, sitting back from the fire, pinging Michio's ear in an attempt to get him to lie down and sleep.

"Did we get to Okaa-san smashing the Shikon No Tama?" Isamu asked thoughtfully, looking up at the stars.

"Yeah, I think that was it," Kazeko said, suddenly grinning. "I have to say, the story of the rosary was the funniest thing I've ever heard…"

"I wanna hear a different story," Yoshinori said, sitting up. Aside from Tsukiko and Akira, the children were refusing to sleep. Being carried all day wasn't exactly exhausting, near-death experience or no.

"Yeah," Kiki said. "We wanna hear the story of why we're running away."

"Why'd we leave Okaa-san and the others behind?" Hitomi asked, sounding scared. "Why are we leaving home?"

"We're not going back, are we?" Michio asked sternly. Yuki stared at him. She was about to reprimand him when she stopped. Kami above, he was twelve, wasn't he? In fact, the youngest one awake was Takumi, and he was a mature kid.

"Look, maybe you guys're too young to know…" Haruka began, but Yuki shook her head. To her surprise, Kazuki backed her up.

"I think they're old enough to deserve too," he said seriously. Isamu nodded in agreement. Yoshinori, Michio, Takumi, Hitomi and Kiki all leaned forwards. Akira turned over in his sleep. Finally, it was Mitsuko who spoke.

"My family were murdered," she said softly. "My parents, my aunt, all dead. And we're not the only ones. There are humans who seek to destroy all youkai. They slaughtered many, in the south. And they are moving north. They have almost certainly reached your home by now." Hitomi gasped in fear, gripping Kiki's hands. Yoshinori and Michio were wide-eyed, and Takumi merely looked sad.

"Isamu, Kiki-chan and their parents are in grave danger, as is Mitsuko-san," Kazuki said.

"We weren't about to let them run on their own," Haruka added, squeezing Isamu's hand. He wrapped it around hers. "We decided to help them, as did Okaa-san, Otou-san and the others."

"They stayed to fight off the armies," Yuki said. "Unfortunately, our choices dragged you into this too. You guys have to run with us. We're going to the smaller islands to the north, looking for some empty ones to set up home, at least for now."

"Good," Takumi said quietly. Everyone stared in some shock at the little boy. "I don't want to leave Kiki-san and Isamu-san and everyone behind. Chichi-ue and everyone are really strong. We'll get to see them again on Hokkaido, won't we?"

"Of course," Kazeko said. Yoshinori abruptly turned to her.

"What about _your_ parents, Kazeko-san?" he asked. "You're human, right? So what happened to your parents?" Kazeko's back stiffened, and then she sighed forlornly.

"I'm dead to them," she said sadly. "Otou-san is the one leading the campaign. I'm no better than a youkai to him." To her shock, Kiki reached out and hugged her.

"Then you stay with us," she said. "We'll be your new family. Can I call you onee-chan? I don't have any sisters," she added, sticking her tongue out at Isamu. Kazeko could feel her eyes stinging.

"Of course," she said, hugging Kiki back. Michio turned to glare at his elder siblings.

"We're not babies anymore, OK?" he said sternly. "Next time that we're all gonna die, at least _tell_ us."

Kazuki burst out laughing. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, between chuckles.

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_Back to writing! But I may not be updating as much as I'd like to now. Why? Blame Will Wright. I'm hooked, dammit, because the new computer's powerful enough to run all of the expansion packs... _

_Thanks to Saphira404 for the lovely birthday wishes! _

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	19. Chapter 19

_**Chapter Nineteen**_

"Here you go," Yuki said, tying the packs around Kazuki's back as he picked up Tsukiko. He was wearing his civvies again. Kazeko was now just strong enough to walk, but they'd have to move quickly to get past the village unnoticed.

"Just over the hill," Isamu said. "We're gonna follow the river, I don't smell fresh water anywhere near the village."

"Isn't it a bit early to be hunting shelter?" Kazeko asked, slinging her good arm around Yuki's shoulders. "The sun's not that low yet..."

"We need to find a cave, we can't stop in the forest tonight," Isamu said tensely. Kazeko stared at him in confusion, but she decided against saying anything as Kazuki walked up the path towards the village, rubbing a little dirt into his cheeks as he did so.

"We can't go into the villages in case people tell the armies about us, right?" Michio asked. Isamu nodded as they moved through the trees, nose open for human scents.

"It's been a week," Hitomi said sadly. "I hope Otou-san and Okaa-san are all right."

"I bet everyone's fine," Yoshinori said confidently. "If Naraku couldn't kill 'em, how much luck will humans have?"

"Time to shut up," Yuki said, watching the villagers turn to the poor, starving widower (with baby). "Okay, go!"

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"It's healed already? After only a week?" Sango gaped at Kagome's shoulder, where there was now only a bruised indent where there had been a hole a week before.

"The healing's slower than a hanyou, but much faster than a human," Kagome explained, sinking back into the hot water. "Ahh, it's nice to find one of these up here..."

"I know, I'm almost getting déjà vu," Sango commented, glancing over at the trees. "I wonder if I'm still allowed to flatten Miroku if he peeks?"

"Does he need to anymore?" Rin giggled. Sango gasped and splashed her sister-in-law. "Although really, we should have gotten them to come in with us..."

"Ecchi!" Kagome squealed and joined in the splashing. Laughing, Rin splashed back.

"Really, though..." Kagome sighed, settling down, "I'm both glad and worried that we've found no sign of the children yet. After all, if _we've_ found no sign, then the soldiers'll _never_ track them... but, equally..."

"I refuse to believe that they've been wiped out without a trace," Sango said. "Yuki and Haruka are better than I was at their age, although admittedly at their age I was pregnant with Kazuki..."

"Kinda hinders the fighting skills, huh?" Kagome said, rubbing her belly. At nearly four months along, it wasn't quite protruding yet, but was unusually firm. She glanced up at the darkening sky. Rin and Sango followed her glance.

"Looks like we'll have to get out soon," Rin sighed, squeezing out her hair. "We've been here too long..."

"If we'd been here three seconds, InuYasha would complain about us being in too long," Kagome grumbled. Sango chuckled.

"Yes, but he only ever said that out of irritation that we flattened him whenever he followed Miroku," she said lightly.

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"No, you don't."

"Sango and I have been married for twenty years now..."

"And she will still whack you if you go up there. If she don't, Kagome and Rin will."

"I'm sure they won't mind if you and Kohaku come too..."

"I've gotten in more than enough trouble for following you over the years. No."

"They're coming back anyway," Kohaku said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder as he turned back to them. Sure enough, the women, still a little damp, were picking their way through the trees, back to the camp. InuYasha let Miroku go and he sat down with a dejected sigh. InuYasha just snorted and sat down against one of the walls of the little shrine. Kagome, Sango and Rin entered, all bowing their heads to the little statue of some forest spirit on the way. Sango wandered over to check on Kirara. The little cat sat up and mewled happily. Her wounds had been worse than Kagome's, but she healed much faster, and so now there was no sign of the bullet wounds other than small bald patches of fur. Even there, hairs were almost visibly growing.

"We need to speed up," Kohaku said. "Is she gonna be all right to run tomorrow?"

"Probably," Sango said, rubbing Kirara's ears. Kirara mewled again, jumping as if to indicate that she wanted to run. "But I would prefer it if it were only a couple of people..."

"I can run," Miroku said.

"I will carry Rin if needs be," SesshoMaru commented. "We must move faster. The northerly winter winds are growing stronger- if they should choose to use ships, then they will catch up with us quickly."

"Kohaku and I, then," Sango said. "Would they dare use ships with winter growing so close, though?"

"I'd rather not risk everything on betting that they won't," Kagome said, sitting down next to InuYasha, who was very tense. SesshoMaru snorted and stepped outside, leaping to the shrine roof. Kohaku slid the door mostly closed. It was only open a sliver, just enough for them to see the sun slip below the horizon.

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"Hayashi-sama, the ships are here," Sato said. He pointed to the sea, and then frowned.

"Is there a problem, Sato?" Hayashi asked, walking past the dying men that he had been talking to, heading for Yamazaki's tent. The general had not died, but in fact had been growing stronger; he'd managed to sit up only yesterday. He'd be insisting on standing soon.

"There are too many, Hayashi-sama," Sato protested. "There's an empty one that the injured are loading on to, but what are the other three for?"

"Load the fit men onto them," Hayashi said. "There should be room. Make sure that all of the injured are loaded onto the empty boat. It is returning south. The others are moving north." Sato's eyes widened in realization and he bowed before hurrying off. Hayashi continued on.

"Ohayou Gozaimasu, Yamazaki-sama," he said as he walked into the general's tent and bowed. The man himself nodded to Hayashi, signalling for him to speak.

"Will you be returning south with the others injured?" Hayashi inquired. "The ships have arrived."

"Very good," Yamazaki said. "But no, I shall not return south. I began this campaign, and I swear that I will end it before the first snows fall. The snow will have to cover ground red with youkai blood."

"You are very brave, Yamazaki-sama," Hayashi said, "But should you not recuperate longer?"

"I'm only interested in how long I have to live in relation to how long it takes to kill those youkai," Yamazaki grunted. "I have nothing else now, not now that my wife is dead and I have no children." Hayashi said nothing, knowing that Yamazaki's daughter was dead to them, being among the youkai as she was. She would be slaughtered, along with the creatures that she protected.

"Very noble, Yamazaki-sama," Hayashi said, bowing out of the tent. "We will move once the entire force is loaded."

"Well done, Hayashi," Yamazaki said as the captain left.

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"Okay, so where were we last night?" Kazuki said, dropping a few more logs onto the fire. It was rather larger than necessary, but Kiki hadn't stopped shivering since sunset, and although he remained composed, Kazuki could tell that Isamu was nervous. Besides, with no moon to provide light, they'd need the fire.

"This is… kinda weird…" Kazeko commented, putting down the brush she'd been using to tidy Kiki's hair one-handed and examining the top of the girl's head. "This happens _every_ month?"

"Every new moon," Mitsuko confirmed. She and Akira had stayed with Isamu's family long enough to know about the human nights, so they were significantly less weirded out than Kazeko. Kazuki, Haruka and Yuki had seen Isamu change every month since they were children, and so were completely unfazed. They younger children were already falling asleep, and Kazeko coaxed Kiki under a blanket in the hope that she would sleep too.

"Sunset till dawn," Yuki said, then added in a muttered undertone, "Wish _I _had a schedule that good."

"Don't we all," Kazeko agreed. Haruka flushed a little and giggled and the men and youkai looked completely and utterly perplexed, making the girls burst out laughing.

"I'm not going to ask," Kazuki declared. Isamu just shifted stiffly, a little closer to the fire.

"You're not normally this tense," Haruka said gently, sitting down next to him and rubbing his shoulders in an effort to soothe him.

"Yeah, well, I'm normally at home, not running for my life," he muttered tersely. Physically, Isamu appeared to have undergone little change beyond the color of his eyes darkening, unlike Kiki who kept pulling at her human ears.

"When you were a baby, you cried all night, every month," Yuki said. Isamu growled at her, although it had a markedly smoother tone than his normal doglike noises.

"I was scared, all right?" he muttered, turning a little red. "I could barely hear, barely see, couldn't smell _at all_ compared to normal… honestly, I can't understand how you guys spend your entire _lives_ like this…"

"Speaking of smelling," Mitsuko said suddenly, "I smell wolf." Kazuki, Yuki and Haruka whipped their heads around as they picked up the youki that had suddenly appeared not far off. Kazuki's hand instantly went to his weapon, and Haruka's clutched Isamu's.

"Show yourself, wolf," Yuki called. A man stepped into the circle of the firelight, hands held up in surrender.

He was thin-looking, his hair liberally streaked with grey, despite his face which, although it didn't look old, looked as though it had aged very fast in a very short time. He had no weapons.

"Put down the weapons, I won't hurt ye," he said stoically. It sounded as though he had almost no emotion in him at all, reminding Isamu a little of his uncle- but while SesshoMaru remained enigmatic, the wolf sounded completely dejected, as though he had nothing left to give. "I can't eat anymore, anyway. I just wanted a little warmth and rest, when I saw the fire."

"Are you fleeing north too?" Yuki asked suspiciously. The wolf looked them all over.

"'Too'?" he asked. "Even humans have to flee the armies now? I can understand the tigers' reasons, but why are all of ye running?"

"We deemed it prudent," Kazuki said pompously, Yuki whacking him over the head for it. The wolf took the bickering as a sign to sit down, and he did, sinking down against a tree between Yuki and Kazuki, and Isamu and Haruka- within reach of people who could kill him at any time. They all settled at this final show of benign intentions.

"What happened to your pack?" Mitsuko asked. "I've never heard of a wolf travelling alone."

"That general's insane," the wolf grunted. "Yuudai, lone wolf. Only wolf now, as far as I know. I'm not alone by choice. My pack's dead, every last damned one of them. We'd barely recovered from the loss of three whole clans, twenty years ago, we'd all come together to make one final, large clan, but then… Men, women, children, wolves, even the clan leader- Koga, one of the only ones to survive the massacres twenty years ago, a damn strong wolf- all shot, all burned, all dead. I only survived because my shot knocked me out, but didn't kill me. I woke up to blood and bodies and dwindling fires. It was like InuYama, only worse, because this time it was my own kin that were dead." Haruka gasped in shock, squeezing Isamu's hand as she tried not to cry.

"They're… wiped out?" Yuki said tightly, though it was really more of a statement than a question, one that got all of the answers it needed from the wolf's face. Kazeko's hands were balling into tight fists, and Mitsuko looked sick. Kazuki carefully looked over the young children- all, including Kiki, were deeply asleep.

Isamu's brain had slowed, almost unable to comprehend the horror of such genocide, but one of the wolf's words had stuck in his brain.

"'InuYama,'" he said slowly. "What is that? Was that?"

If it had been possible for the old wolf to look any sadder, he did now. Yuki, Haruka and Kazuki had all turned their heads when Kazuki had spoken, Mitsuko being comforted by a still furious Kazeko. "I'm not sure that it's my story to tell, really." Yuudai said. He seemed to be slowly chewing over the question. They all watched him intently.

"It was centuries before your time," he said eventually. "InuYama- the home of the great clan of the Inu-Youkai."

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"_Ecchi" is basically the female form of "Hentai. "Yaoi" is the homosexual version._

"_Yuudai" means "Great Hero"._

"_InuYama" means "Dog Mountain"._

"_Inu-Youkai" means "Dog Demons"._

_Thanks to Kourinthehunter for her lovely comments- oh, and I Romanize SesshoMaru's name with a capital "M" out of habit. There's no formal way to Romanize most Japanese words- you could spell his name SesshoMaru, Sesshomaru or sesshoumaru and be correct. "Sexxhoumaru" isn't strictly correct, but I still love it :P ._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter Twenty**_

SesshoMaru sat on top of the little shrine. He knew InuYasha was still sitting awake inside, unable to sleep on such a night. The humans, however, were all slumbering peacefully. SesshoMaru was left alone with his thoughts.

He stared upwards at the twinkling stars, so many more in view on a night with no moonlight to drown them, showing stars that one could not normally see from such a low elevation. At the tops of mountains, so close to the stars, you could see thousands of them. And there had been nowhere that you could see more than from the top of InuYama.

InuYama. He hadn't thought about it in so long; another memory that he had put away, hoped to forget about, because if you forgot about something then it as good as never happened.

But it had happened, and he knew that he'd always know it, no matter what; like Kagura, he knew he'd never forget it. Even now, in the stillness of the night, he could smell the rank stench of an ocean of blood and fire. In the silence, he could still hear the screams of the dying as they were blown apart, the sound still too loud after over two hundred years; yet even worse than the screams of the dying masses were the shrieks of the living, those torn by a pain worse than by blade or fire, until such tools ended it.

"_SesshoMaru!"_

He closed his eyes, as if blocking out the sound. He could still see the little hand falling limp, blood spiraling down the small arm.

And it was happening again. The world had seemed, if not good, then at least peaceful, for a too short period of time. A fragile peace, one that was now degenerating rapidly into fire and blood and screaming.

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"I was a little younger than you all, at the time," Yuudai said, "but I'll never forget it, even though it were over two hundred years ago."

Yuki and Kazuki were sitting down, side by side, watching the wolf unreadably. Mitsuko was bandaging Kazeko's hand- in her fury at her father, Kazeko's nails had pierced her palm. Isamu was watching the wolf intently, Haruka still clutching his hand. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. _The _clan_ of the Inu-youkai_?

"You kids ever seen an Inu-youkai?" Yuudai asked though fully. He missed the flicker of glances to Isamu and back.

"One or two," Yuki said carefully.

"Then you're damn lucky, 'cos one or two's all that's left. Matter of fact, I'm surprised there's more than one. Guess he saved her." The old wolf seemed to be telling the story more to himself than them.

"There used to be more?" Kazeko asked tentatively. "What happened to them?"

"Like I said, I'm not sure it's my story to tell," Yuudai said. "But back in that time, in that place, when the scent of blood was filling my nose and the taste of vomit was filling my mouth... Otou-san, he made me look, and he said, 'Look at it, Yuudai. Remember it. They deserve to be remembered. And maybe, just maybe, as long as somebody it remembers, it won't happen again.' So I'll tell you, since I figure you cubs're gonna outlive me, and besides, I get a funny feeling about you all. Like maybe you need to hear." He took a deep breath, stared into the fire for a second, seeing somewhere and somewhen that none of them could; then, he began to speak.

"If you go back maybe a bit over two hundred and twenty years, the Inu-youkai are big. Really big. There's a good few hundred of them, actually, and they're all shit-powerful. More powerful than any other kind of youkai there is. You know there's legends of Tennyo coming to earth, marrying mortals, then carrying off to the heavens again after pumping out a few kids? Well, as the stories go, there were a few Tennyo married wolf-youkai instead. Their kids were the first Inu-youkai. Dunno how many thousands of years ago this was supposed to be, dunno whether it's true or not, but one thing I know for sure: They were _shit_-powerful. And their clan leader? Well, he would've been the most powerful youkai in this world, I'd say. I vaguely remember Otou-san talking about the old one, the one who died back at InuYama, and this guy really had proved himself to be strong as fuck. Pardon the language, girls, but there's just no way to stress how strong this guy was. Can't remember his name, though. He was only ever referred to as the "Inu No Taishou"- the Lord of the Dogs." He didn't hear Isamu's sharp intake of breath, but the rest noticed it; They had only heard that title once before, in reference to Isamu's long-dead grandfather, from whose fang Tessaiga and Tenseiga were forged.

"Anyway," Yuudai continued, oblivious, "Most youkai didn't mess with them. They were a good sort, anyway- most youkai, with that kinda power, would just go on a killin' spree. Not them. They taught all their pups well. Didn't kill humans if they could avoid it, didn't seek fights, shared their hunting grounds if another clan was in need. Our hunting grounds bordered theirs, we sometimes ran into a few. I had a couple of friends my age there. It was the kinda peace you just don't find among youkai. But of course, there were always those who didn't like 'em. Youkai from the continent, they'd tried to take over and been beaten back more times than I care to remember, and there was this clan- neko-youkai, ain't that hilarious- who were always challengin' 'em. Always got beat, but that didn't stop 'em. Anyway, two hundred and twenty years ago, I'm fourteen, and I'm out hunting with Otou-san when I hear all this noise in the distance, on the Inu-youkai land. Otou-san said he figured that those baka-neko were attacking again, and we'd best be well out of it. We could see InuYama from there- biggest mountain anywhere, you could probably see it from the east coast. I was just thinkin' that when there was this huge noise, like an explosion, and a rumbling- and InuYama was collapsing and falling to the ground."

"Collapsed?" Mitsuko said in shock. "Was there an earthquake?"

"I'll bet big money there wasn't," Kazuki said grimly. "Even in earthquakes, I've never heard of an entire mountain collapsing to the ground."

"Although there _was_ Hakureizan," Yuki said thoughtfully. "Remember when Okaa-san told us about that?"

"I'd say the boy's won the big money," Yuudai said grimly. "I heard about Hakureizan, oh yeah. Whole damn mountain destroyed by the same bastard who wiped out the clans years back."

"So it was a youkai?" Kazeko asked, in shock.

"Somehow, I don't think so..." Isamu said grimly. If the Inu No Taishou that Yuudai was talking about was his grandfather, then the one who killed him...

"The boys win again," Yuudai said. "It was no youkai. It was a dragon, from the continent. I guess some of the youkai there had found some way to convince it to lend them a hand, or maybe they just told it that it would get to kill. Who knows? But dragons are _way_ stronger than youkai. This one weren't much, as dragons go, according to Otou-san, but that doesn't mean it weren't one powerful fucker. And it blew InuYama to the ground- killing the children, the mothers, the invalids, anyone who weren't out fighting. Killed in a collapse of fire and rock."

"Oh, Kami," Haruka said, squeezing Isamu's hand to support him. The Inu-hanyou had frozen completely.

"Well, when we saw that, we ran faster than the late Koga-sama himself to get to the mountain. Couldn't've taken us more than minutes, but we only got there in time to see the end of it. In time to see that last two left alive."

"What do you mean?" Kazeko said sharply.

"When we got there, there was blood everywhere. It was pooling in fucking _lakes_ among the rubble, torn bodies floating in it. You seen a youkai killed in battle? Their body _goes_, vanishes into dust, nothing left, 'cos it's all in the graveyard. But slaughters like that ain't battle. The bodies stay. There were warriors there too, men and women alike, they must've come running back when the mountain fell. There was no sign of the Inu No Taishou, but there was this distant howling, so I figure he must've stayed behind to fight off the cats while his son led the others back to the mountain. The son was the only one alive at this point, y'know. He was in 'is true form- doubt you've ever seen an Inu-youkai's true form, but they're big as fuck. And he was torn up. We saw 'im lunge at the dragon and get blasted back, fireball to the gut, he knocked a huge crater into the ground." Kazeko sobbed involuntarily at this point. If the Inu No Taishou was Isamu's grandfather, then the son was SesshoMaru.

"Well, he changed back to human and fell into the crater," Yuudai said bitterly. "We all ran over to see if we could help 'im, looking out for _anyone_ who might be alive, but the dragon was charging up again. Guess it wanted to finish 'im, and us, too, just 'cause we were there. Then the Inu No Taishou got back; transformed, running, fucking _furious_. He leapt on that dragon, and he was bigger, much bigger than the son had been transformed, a bit bigger than the dragon. It slashed its claws through his stomach, damn well disembowelled 'im, but he didn't notice- just slammed it into one o' the piles o' rock, claw through its heart. Tore the claw out of 'is paw, but he didn't notice that, either- guess it hurts less than losing a few miles of gut. The dragon struggled for a second then fell asleep. Otou-san said the seal would drain it of its power- it would die, eventually, and if it ever woke up it wouldn't be even _half_ as powerful as it was." Isamu couldn't help wincing at the bloody tale of his grandfather's death. He knew some of it, from his father, but only that his grandfather had fought the dragon Ryukossei and died from his wounds.

"So there we were. Dragged the couple of 'em down among the rubble, patched 'em up, but it was clear the Inu No Taishou weren't gonna live and we weren't too sure about the son, either, but he healed up pretty good. We started digging up bodies out of the rubble. One day, we found a ton of babies, crushed flat as a plate. Must've been a nursery den. It was horrible." By this point, tears were streaming down Mitsuko, Haruka and even Yuki's faces. Kazeko had been openly sobbing for a while, since the description of SesshoMaru's defeat. Kazuki looked like he wanted to vomit. Isamu had thought that the tale of the Yourozoku's slaughter had been too horrible to process, but this account of even more horrible slaughter, of a mountain flowing with blood barely removed from his own, was a million times worse. He wondered if his father knew. Judging by his reaction to Totosai's remarks, probably not.

"What..." Isamu cleared his throat; his voice was inexplicably hoarse and tight. "What happened after that?"

"The night after we found the nursery," Yuudai said, "We came back to the cave and they were both gone. The son returned at dawn, and told us only that his father had died. He said he would deal with the bodies. He seemed... so changed, so haunted. I'd seen him once or twice before, when our hunting parties met theirs. He'd seemed pretty friendly, actually. Really _cared_ about his clan, and everyone in it, which is a good thing in the future leader, eh? But now... cold as ice. He just told us to be gone, and that we could extend our hunting grounds since his clan clearly no longer needed them."

"SesshoMaru-sama," Kazeko rasped out, still crying. Yuudai nodded.

"You're heard of 'im, have ye? Well, 'e is pretty famous. I hear he's stayed cold all these years since. I'm not surprised. It breaks you, knowing you're alone. Your friends, your family, your clan, your world... all gone, somewhere you can't bring 'em back. You don't wanna ever open up to anyone again, don't wanna care about anyone ever again, 'cos you know they'll die too, someday, one way or another, and you don't wanna feel that pain. I dunno what went through 'is head while 'e dug out them bodies and lighted the funeral bonfires, but I know what went through mine. I ain't telling, 'cos you won't understand and I'm prayin' to heaven that you'll never have to, but at the end of it, you don't care anymore. Nothing matters anymore. Nothing."

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Once again, SesshoMaru found himself staring at them; the feather and the hairclip.

When Kagura died, for no real reason, he'd found himself following the feather that had blown away from her disintegrating body, and suddenly, the wind had stopped and it had fallen into his hand. It was on a grassy slope, overlooking a large and beautiful lake. He had wondered if Kagura had ever come here, and, without thinking, tucked it into the little pouch where he kept only one other item: the hairpin.

He stared at the blue flower on the hairpin. The clip itself was stained with ancient, brown blood, but somehow, the little blue flower had remained pristine. Wasn't that hairpin why he had pushed Kagura away? He had kept it to remind himself of InuYama. It was supposed to remind him not to get too close to anyone. There was no point. Everyone died, and it hurt too much when they did. He came up with any number of excuses for ignoring Kagura, but in his heart he knew it was because he was a coward: he feared that pain. And in the end, it had made no difference at all. It had hurt just as much.

It had hurt every time. When the clan had been crushed in InuYama; when he'd led the warriors back to be slaughtered. In his head he knew that if they hadn't returned, they would have always felt guilty for leaving the others to die, and they would have been hunted down and wiped out anyway. It couldn't kill the guilt.

"_Do you still insist on going?"_

"_Do you intend to stop me, SesshoMaru?"_

"_...I will not stop you._"

There hadn't been anything to be done for his father. He would have died anyway. But SesshoMaru had let himself grow even more bitter, pushing away Izayoi and blaming her and his newborn half-brother for what felt like the loss of the last family he had left. His mother didn't count; she had always been as cold as he had become, and when she left, SesshoMaru had been glad to see his father to find his own happiness again. But in the end he'd left Izayoi, who'd done so much for his father, alone; and she had died at her father's hands years later. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, he was hurt time and again.

And now there was Kazeko. She was just as compelling, just as soothing to his soul, as Kagura had been. He did not want to take that risk again. But what choice did he have? Like Kagura before her, he just couldn't bring himself to be indifferent to her; he knew that he cared about her, had done before he even realized it. He was caught between the fire and hell. If he pushed Kazeko away, if he lost her too, it would hurt. He knew it would hurt. But if he let himself care for her and protect her, then if he failed again and he lost her, it would hurt more. It would hurt too much. SesshoMaru had survived three centuries of loss; but he wasn't too arrogant to admit that one more would break him. He knew it would.

He also wasn't too arrogant to think that he really had a choice.

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"So that's why there's almost none left…" Isamu said faintly. Yuudai looked up at him and the others, seeming to remember that they were there. He shook his head sadly.

"Yeah," he said. He looked over at Kazeko and Mitsuko, both crying, as well as the green-faced Kazuki and Yuki, who was repeatedly punching the ground in anger. "Maybe I shouldn't've told you all this…"

"No, it's all right," Haruka said, shaking her head. Isamu reached out and wiped away her tears, very white-faced. "Thank you for sharing the story."

"Thanks for sharing the fire." Yuudai stood up, sighing heavily.

"Wait… where are you going?" Kazuki asked, confused. The wolf looked grimly to the south.

"I've been looking all over, and there's no-one else left," he decided. "So I'm going for him." He stared up at the stars, distantly, with an odd determination behind his eyes. "You know, the Inu No Taishou had a human mate near the end," he said eventually. "The day he disappeared from InuYama, the human who was trying to marry her died- his castle burned to the ground. I guess he saved her, I hear she was pregnant. Anyway, years later, we were passing by her father's castle, and he saw my sister and started screamin' and screamin' about ghosts. Eriko did look a little like the human mate, I guess. She started stalkin' the old man, and in the end, he killed himself, yelling, 'I'm sorry I killed you, but you can't blame me, I didn't kill him, he ran away, it was the winter that did it.' Dunno what the hell he was on about, but now I think maybe she ended up at his and he killed her, her baby too, maybe. But he got killed by a ghost, and that's what's gonna happen to that bastard Yamazaki. I'm going' for 'im, and I've little doubt that it'll kill me, but I'm not moving on yet. Not 'til I've haunted that bastard to the ends of the earth. He's gonna pay, see. I ain't movin' on 'til I see him die screaming. I'm gonna make him pay in the only way I can."

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_Your wish is granted, Saphira404..._

_The Yourouzoku are the wolf-demon clan. Three were wiped out by Naraku; two by Kagura in her first appearance, and a third came much later on in the manga (It's not been published in English yet), when Hakudoshi sought to draw Koga out and steal his Shikon shards._

_The tale of InuYama is entirely my own creation, but I've woven it around what facts did come from the manga and third movie: InuPapa fought and sealed Ryukossei (Don't tell me It's Ryukotsusei- apparently, it was the same kanji mistake they made with "Tessaiga/Tetsusaiga"), sustaining horrible injuries in the process, saved Izayoi then died in the burning castle, a combination of wounds and several tons of burning wood landing on his head._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	21. Chapter 21

_**Chapter Twenty-One**_

"It's a favourable wind," Hayashi said approvingly, watching the first of the ships start moving north, "for us, anyway." They had been forced to sacrifice some fit men to row the invalids' ship southward, because the wind was against them, but it was worth it for the speed that the wind would give the northbound ships. General Yamazaki was being carried on to the best ship. The monks were with him; they would be sensing out for the auras of any youkai.

"Should you sense any large numbers of them," he ordered, "inform me _immediately_; we will keep going until we are a day ahead of them, then prepare an ambush. I have already drilled the men on what to do in such an eventuality." The lead monk bowed and rushed off to inform his companions. Hayashi walked on to the ship and headed towards the general's quarters.

"This is all very well done, Hayashi," Yamazaki said approvingly as Hayashi entered the cabin. Hayashi bowed in response. "I am especially impressed about how you got a message to the south, the ships loaded and the men here in under a week." Hayashi's eyes widened. He had hoped that Yamazaki would not notice the odd time-frame, but it was probably too much to hope that anything would get past the general. He wondered what to say, and settled for the truth.

"To be honest, Yamazaki-sama," he said, with another bow, "I ordered that the men begin loading up the ships before I rode out to join you. They were supposed to be only a few days behind us, and would quickly catch us if we stopped, ready to take the injured home and provide us with the bulk of the force." He stopped and watched the general's unreadable face. He could feel himself sweating. What he had done was incredibly audacious, he knew; he could be executed for it. Everything depended on whet the general thought.

Long moments passed. Then Yamazaki laughed loudly and clapped. "Brilliant! I could tell you had brains, boy, but clearly you have guts too! I'm glad I promoted you. Calm down, Hayashi, you're not going to be executed. You'd only be punished if it didn't work!"

Hayashi smiled in relief. "We'll be moving out presently," he said, bowing out. He closed the door to the general's laughter.

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"I hope the kids are all right," Kagome said worriedly, watching the sun clear the horizon. As soon as InuYasha had returned to normal, they had started running. The problem was moving north. They were headed towards winter. While the wind and snow would slow them down, she wasn't sure what effect it would have on the army. She remembered uneasily that the army would have access to ships, and the northerly winds would be a massive asset to them. On top of that, she wasn't sure if or when they'd catch up to their children- she knew for a fact that Isamu could run just as fast as InuYasha, and that Kazuki and the twins had always trained with him, so they would be nearly as fast, despite being human. Mitsuko, being youkai, would hardly slow them down. Which meant that until they reached Hokkaido, she was unlikely to know what had happened to her children.

SesshoMaru suddenly appeared beside her and InuYasha, drifting along effortlessly at InuYasha's top speed. Because he was so much faster than the rest of them, he had periodically been doubling back to check up on the progress of the armies.

"Grave news," he said stoically, as ever. "Firstly, Yamazaki is alive, although I will admit that I cannot imagine how."

"He _survived_ that slash you gave him?" Miroku said, pouring on a little more power and catching up to them. "That's impossible."

"Why should he die? After all, that would _benefit_ people," InuYasha snarled.

"You said 'firstly'," Rin said. "What else is wrong?"

"The main army has caught up, in ships," SesshoMaru said. "They are not moving quite as fast as us, but they will not stop at nights. Wind will only benefit them, and rain and snow will not slow them- only a typhoon will do that."

"Dammit," Kohaku muttered. "They plan to wait for us, ambush us."

"All we can do is pray that the snows are late," Kagome muttered, tightening her arms around InuYasha's neck.

"InuYasha-sama, there is more bad news," Myoga said.

"Where the hell did you come from?" InuYasha asked incredulously.

"I went with SesshoMaru-sama, but that is beside the point," Myoga said. "I just thought I should let you know that your friend is dead."

"Who?" Kagome asked, fear suddenly gripping her. Who did he mean? Was it one of the villagers? Nazuna, who had hidden them only days ago? Who?

"I told you that the fledgling army that you fought had experience," Myoga said. "What I did not have time to tell you was that they slaughtered the last clan of the _Yourouzoku_. All are dead, including the chieftain."

"Koga?" InuYasha said incredulously. Myoga nodded sadly, and Kagome gasped out a sob. "That baka's _dead_?"

InuYasha could smell the faint cent of salt as Kagome struggled not to cry. Koga? They hadn't heard from him in _years_. In fact, InuYasha couldn't remember seeing him since his and Kagome's wedding. That _yasee ookami_ had shown up long enough to formally announce that he'd given Kagome up, to call InuYasha _inukkoro_ one more time, and then vanish off of the face of the earth. He'd breezed past the village once or twice, but for the most part he'd been out of their lives ever since, and as far as InuYasha was concerned, they were better off for it. Even so... hearing that that damn general had murdered him, and his clan...

SesshoMaru was looking oddly pale. "Every last one has been wiped out?" he asked, emotionless as ever, yet there was a strange undertone to his question.

"Their numbers were not strong, not after all those whom Naraku killed," Myoga said sadly, "and now they are all but extinct. Perhaps there are one or two that were not there, but..."

"That's horrible," Sango said quietly. Kohaku nodded in agreement, a muscle in his jaw ticking. Kagome could easily imagine what the two taijiya were thinking about; their friends, their family, their entire clan wiped out by Naraku.

"Slaughter follows slaughter," Rin said. "Naraku slaughtered thousands, and so people grew afraid of him; with his death, that fear was spread to include all youkai, and the only way to end their fear is to destroy the source."

"But then angry and scared youkai will start slaughtering humans again," Kohaku said. "It's a pointless and bloody cycle."

"One that will only end, I fear," Myoga said, "with the extinction of either humans or youkai."

"Or at least," SesshoMaru said, "one side _believing _that the other is extinct."

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A week ago, Kazeko had been shocked at how fast the taijiya could move; they easily kept up with Isamu and Mitsuko. It must have taken ungodly amounts of training. But now, she didn't notice. She paid no attention to the ground zipping away beneath Kazuki's feet as he carried her. In some part of her mind, she felt an irrational bit of guilt for being carried by him- more than once, she knew, Mitsuko had woken up in the middle of the night, sobbing for her family, and Kazuki had managed to comfort her without groping. She'd even let him pat her back reassuringly as she and Kazeko had sobbed into each others' shoulders last night, overcome by grief over the horrendous slaughter of which they had been told.

But the rest of Kazeko's mind was not occupied by guilt; it was still consumed by horror, and grief, and a pain she felt as keenly as if she had been stabbed through the chest. She knew now, what it was that had weighed so heavily on SesshoMaru's mind, that time that she had seen him standing alone on the cliff-edge; understood why he had been so desperate to stop the peaceful youkai being massacred. It must have been déjà vu for him. More death and destruction, mercy for none; she wondered if he knew of the massacred Yourouzoku yet. She clutched Tenseiga tightly as a wave of pain ripped through her, a pain that was not fully her own; SesshoMaru's pain. Kazeko couldn't imagine how hard it must be for him to hide it- to _have_ hidden it, for over two hundred years.

"_She died a long time ago..."_

And the pain hadn't ended there, had it? Kazeko felt another wave of pain as she thought of this unknown woman whom he had loved and lost. How could he have been able to withstand it? He'd lost his family, friends, and now someone else whom he loved. Kazeko couldn't help feeling the pain; pain that SesshoMaru was in pain. It hurt her that he could feel so badly hurt. She felt irrationally angry towards the long-dead woman; how _dare_ she die on SesshoMaru, and hurt him like that? How could she have left him? It was no good that a logical part of her mind was telling her that few choose to die, and this woman couldn't possibly have; Kazeko was still angry, and a little jealous.

She took a few deep breaths to clear her thoughts, glancing at Kazuki to see if he had noticed her hateful thoughts. If he had, he was giving no sign, and Kazeko could only feel relieved about that. Her feelings for SesshoMaru were growing stronger than friendship, she knew, and she needed to figure them out alone; she didn't want questions. She needed time to figure things out on her own.

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Mitsuko couldn't help the occasional glance at Kazeko. Her friend was keeping a tight hold on Tenseiga, and was clearly lost in thought. Mitsuko could sense it, hovering at the top of her friend's thoughts; SesshoMaru. Mitsuko remembered Kazuki and the others' tales. If Kazeko truly was Kagura's reincarnation, then she was fated to meet SesshoMaru. Their destinies had already been deeply interlinked before Kazeko was even born. What their destiny was, however...

Mitsuko closed her eyes, her nose leading her after Isamu and the others. She had learned that she couldn't control her bouts of clairvoyance, but, if she tried hard enough, she _could_ get a vague image of the future. Kazeko's directions had probably saved hers and Akira's lives, Mitsuko knew, and so she tried to see her friend's destiny.

It was faint, but she could see SesshoMaru and Kazeko's faces together. They looked content, but merely their faces together gave Mitsuko no useful information. She could not tell how far away it was, and, more to the point, there was a thick mist around them, obscuring their surroundings. SesshoMaru are Kazeko would be together, Mitsuko could tell that much...

But would it be in this world or the next?

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Isamu felt vaguely lucky that his father's strict drilling meant that he could find his way north without ever being seen purely on instinct, because his mind was still dwelling endlessly on Yuudai's tale, and the stories of the Inu-Youkai.

There had been a clan. A big one, and a good one too, it sounded like. One that had accepted Isamu's grandmother Izayoi as their leader's mate. One that also would have accepted hanyou.

Isamu knew that his father had had a very hard time as a child, after his mother died, outcast and alone. If it weren't for Ryukossei, his father would have grown up at InuYama, accepted and happy. And maybe, Isamu and Kiki would have too.

Isamu wondered often what it would have been like, living in InuYama. He knew it was no good, thinking about "what ifs" and "could have beens", but he also knew that he'd end up thinking about it anyway, so he might as well get it out of his system.

Would he have had friends his age? Maybe his father would have had siblings. Then Isamu might have had cousins. But then he wouldn't know Kazuki, Haruka and Yuki at all. In fact, it struck him that _he_ might not have existed at all, or would have been someone totally different. If his father hadn't been alone, he wouldn't have ended up looking for the Shikon No Tama. He wouldn't have met Kikyo or, therefore, by extension, Isamu's mother. Naraku might not have existed. Following that, Kazuki, Yuki and Haruka's parents may not have met, or Rin and Kohaku. He looked over his friends. With the exception of Mitsuko, Akira and Kazeko, none of them might exist right now. But several hundred Inu-youkai would.

Isamu sighed. It really was no use wondering about how things might have been different. They might have been better or worse, but they definitely would have been different. But, glancing over at Haruka, Isamu knew that, high possibility of imminent death or not, he was happy where he was. He also felt that, maybe, in another world, there was an Isamu who had been born in InuYama, and grown up there. He knew that that Isamu was probably happy too.

He couldn't change things if he wanted to, s there was no point in thinking about what would happen if he could. Still, Isamu knew that he wouldn't be able to forget about InuYama, and the genocide of his own kind which had occurred there.

Especially when there were more important things that he needed to focus on.

"Mitsuko, can you smell that too?" Isamu said, landing in a halt in a small clearing. Mitsuko, who had stopped almost the instant he had- he idly wondered if her prescience extended to knowing what he was going to do- nodded.

"Youkai, and badly hurt," she said. She wrinkled her nose. "Too much blood to tell what sort, though..."

Isamu put Kiki and Hitomi down. Michio was already clambering off of his back. "I can't tell if it's hostile or not," he said, "but we've gotta help it out."

Yoshinori ran over to Yuki. "Onee-san, can I have my staff?" he asked. Yuki nodded and handed it to him. "Kiki-chan and I could make a shield to look after everyone if you all want to go look..."

"I'll go with Isamu," Kazuki said. "Ane-ue, Mitsuko, Ane-ue..."

"We'll stay here," Haruka said. "Kiki-chan, you don't have to help with the shield..."

Kiki and Yoshinori had each placed one hand on the staff and had the other raised perpendicular to their faces, two fingers curled, two extended. The runes were beginning to glow blue, and Kiki was wincing slightly in pain. Her own holy powers were burning her.

"I'm all right," she said. "I just need to help long enough to set up the shield, Yoshi-kun can hold it alone after that..."

"I'm sorry, Kiki-chan," Yoshinori said. "I'll get better at shields so I can set them up on my own."

A blue orb expanded from the staff and washed over them, forming a large dome over them all. Kiki stepped back and licked at the burns on her hand. Haruka started digging in the medicine kit.

"I'll get you some burn stuff." She glanced over at her brother and fiancée. "Weren't you two going somewhere?"

Isamu nodded and set off. He knew that Kazuki wasn't far behind him. It was a little odd, he thought- Miroku had five children who couldn't' seem to summon or use any holy powers of their own accord, without the aid of ofuda, but Yoshinori, who shared no blood at all with his uncle, had proven himself to have quite a degree of holy powers. The full extent of them was as yet unknown, but he was training. If his holy powers could work with his taijiya training, then Yoshinori could be powerful indeed.

Isamu caught, faintly, underneath the powerful scent of youkai blood, the scents of a human and some hanyou. If there were hanyou, then, the youkai probably wasn't evil.

He couldn't help smiling. He didn't care if things would have been better or worse, had there been no massacre at InuYama. Things were the way they were, and there was no helping that. Thinking of his fiancée and sister, Isamu decided that, all murderers and genocides taken into account, things could very easily have been much, much worse.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_I'm sorry this took forever to write! Gomen, Gomen! I just had no idea how to follow up chapter 20, or to link it to the next event that I wanted to happen. However, I managed it, and the next chapter's going to make things a good bit cheerier, I promise! Gomen!_

_And I know I keep saying this, but thanks for your comments, Milenalupin. It's wonderful to know that my fic has such a powerful emotional effect. And in answer to your question, I tend to only take a very little of anime-specific arcs and plot points into account (I just mentioned the episode with Ungai because I loved that one- SesshoMaru PWNS!), so Ayame probably won't ever turn up in a fic of mine. But if I was saying that her clan existed, they would have been destroyed, too- remember, Yuudai said that, after Naraku's death, the surviving Yourouzoku clans banded together into one large clan for safety, with Koga at its head. So they would have died too._

_For anyone who doesn't know, _Yasee Ookami _basically translates as "starving wolf" and is what InuYasha calls Koga. Likewise, _Inukkoro_ literally means "dog shit" and is what Koga calls InuYasha. In the Viz version they changed this to "Puppy", but that's what Koga is actually saying there. Viz got rid of all of the foul language in the English version of _InuYasha_, but I gather that they're all foulmouthed little gits in the Japanese version. ;P_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	22. Chapter 22

_**Chapter Twenty-Two**_

InuYasha peeked out of the cave-mouth at the driving rain. The wind was so strong that the rain was almost horizontal. What he could be thankful for was that the wind was at the wrong angle to blow rain into the cave. What he couldn't be thankful for was that the wind was blowing north.

"Dammit," he muttered, slamming his fist against the rock wall as he turned around and walked over to the small fire, slumping down next to Kagome. "How much longer is this gonna keep up? They're gonna catch up with us!"

"InuYasha, there's nothing that we can do about the weather," Kagome said soothingly. "It'll blow over eventually. We can wait. Even with the wind at their backs, i'm sure that we're faster than them..."

"We'll only have a problem if this kind of weather happens a lot..." Sango said.

"Or if it turns into snow," Miroku said. "Now, what time of year does that happen again...?"

"Shut up," InuYasha growled.

"Houshi-sama..." Sango said with a heavy sigh. "At your time of life, should you not have outgrown baiting InuYasha?"

"Why, when it's so fun?" Miroku asked with a cheesy grin that suddenly made him look twenty years younger. "you must admit that, in the present climate, a little fun may be necessary..."

"I think that the present climate, social and weather-wise, may be a little dark and damp for laughter in our hearts," Kohaku commented.

"Yeah," InuYasha agreed, "'Cause all i'm getting is an itch in my fist..."

*********************************************************************************************************

Isamu and Kazuki came upon a path. Everything seemed to be happening a little further along it, behind a bend obscured by the thick trees. Suddenly, a second after Isamu caught her scent, a human woman ran around the bend and into their line of sight. She was clutching two small children, the third- not much larger than her obviously very young siblings, but old enough to run- following her closely. All three of the children seemed to be attached to a large, fluffy something like a mokomoko-sama, though their scent identified them as hanyou. The woman's eyes widened as she saw them, and she stopped dead.

"It's all right, i'm hanyou too," Isamu said quickly. "Now get behind us, we'll help your mate." Kazuki pulled his mace out of its holster and stared intently up the path. The huge blood-scent was drawing nearer.

A four-legged something suddenly ran around the bend in the path. Isamu couldn't tell precisely what sort of youkai it was, because the number of spears and arrows sticking in it obscured it, and the blood-scent was too strong to notice anything else. Several villagers followed it, slashing swords. Suddenly a burst of fire knocked them over, though they did not seem burned.

"Kitsunebi," Kazuki muttered. Isamu nodded. So it was a Kitsune. He pointed Kazuki at the villagers, noting that several others were drawing bows behind them. Drawing Tessaiga in a flash, he sliced the bows apart, while Kazuki knocked the soldiers out with the handle of his mace. One of the archers started yelling for backup, but Isamu knocked him and the others out with a couple of punches. He turned back to Kazuki, who was helping the human woman to cut arrowheads and spears out of her mate. The youkai now looked more like a fox than a hedgehog- the few patches of fur that weren't matted with blood were vivid orange. It only had one tail- Isamu vaguely remembered Kazuki's mother explaining that, though there were several breeds of Kitsune, the most common grew a new tail every hundred years. _It must be relatively young,_ he decided.

He then realized that the Kitsune had resumed a human form. The man was speaking to him.

"Hey, you," he said- rather impolitely, Isamu thought, considering they had just saved his life- "what's that blade, there?" Isamu looked at the Tessaiga and quickly sheathed it, crossing his arms in a domineering stance meant to intimidate the man who was watching his with half a smile, like he knew the punchline and Isamu didn't.

"This blade belongs to my father," said Isamu, "and will return to him on Hokkaido." The man was openly grinning now, and it was making Isamu bristle. Kazuki was watching the youkai with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Knew it. It _is _Tessaiga, then? You certainly sound like InuYasha." Isamu growled slightly.

"How do you know Otou-san?" he asked.

"And how do you know that sword's name?" said Kazuki, with the air of one who hopes that they know what's coming. "From was chichi-ue's told me, not many who see that blade end up in any mood to talk to anyone except priests, y'know?"

"Yeah," the Kitsune said chuckling, "InuYasha had one hell of a temper... probably still does, the baka..."

"InuYasha?" the woman said thoughtfully. "I remember him. That arrogant, silver-haired inu-hanyou?"

"Would you mind telling me just who the hell you are?" Isamu asked again, starting to lose his patience. Kazuki, however, slapped his knee. Isamu stared at him.

"Now I've got it," he said with an air of triumph. "Now I remember. I dunno if you were old enough to remember him, but..." he turned to the Kitsune. "Shippo, right? Haven't seen you since I was a kid... heard chichi-ue joking that you'd eloped or something."

Isamu stared at the Kitsune as something clicked in his brain. He could dimly remember... that vivid ginger hair colour _was_ vaguely familiar...

"Not exactly," Shippo said. "But anyway, this _is_ my mate, Satsuki." The human woman waved. The children, who had been hiding behind her, had evidently decided that it was safe to come out.

"I'm Hotaru," A girl of about five announced, then reached down to help a girl of about two to stand up. "And this is Momo. Say konnichiwa, Momo-chan!"

"K'nichiwa," the little girl mumbled, obviously still feeling shy. A much more hyper, though not much larger, boy ran right over to Kazuki and waved.

"I'm Satoshi," he announced proudly. "I'm the _only_ boy!" He was trying to look glum at this announcement but didn't seem able to pull the emotion off very well.

"We noticed," Kazuki said, stifling a laugh. Isamu walked over to them and picked Shippo and Satsuki up onto his back.

"Now that the introductions are over," he said pleasantly, "How about we get the hell out of here before the soldiers I smell get here?" He ran back towards the others, closely followed by Kazuki, who was holding the children.

************************************************************************************************

Haruka was glad to see that Hotaru and Satoshi had instantly been accepted by the other children, who were all now involved in a loud and active game of tag- even Hitomi and Kiki, who had tried to declare themselves too mature before caving. Yoshinori and Michio hadn't bothered.

It was nice to see them all so active. They had all been more subdued than usual, even frightened, ever since they had been forced to flee the village, not knowing what had become of their parents. All they could do was run to Hokkaido.

"It was the academy, y'see," Shippo explained. "I got to one of the highest ranks. It's sort of a rite of passage, coming of age type of thing, you know?" Isamu nodded.

"So you had to stay?" he asked. Shippo shrugged.

"Not _had to_, exactly," he said, "but the masters there offered to teach me some of the most advanced Kitsune magic, and I had to stay for a few years to do that. By the time I left, I was twenty, and then I stayed in Satsuki's village on the way back, and never really left," he concluded, grinning saucily at Satsuki. She rolled her eyes and pulled a bandage extra tight.

"We met when we were little kids, you see," she explained, "When they were hunting for the Shikon No Kakera. The rumours were that I had one, though it turned out to just be a stone flower. But I thought it could bring my brother back, and a youkai tried to use that to get the real shards from Shippo's friends." She smiled a little sadly, then kissed Shippo on the cheek. "But Shippo killed the youkai and helped me accept my brother's death. I was so happy to see him again."

Kazuki rolled his eyes and made a slight gagging motion when Satsuki kissed Shippo, getting him a slap on the arm from Mitsuko. Feigning seriousness (Haruka was certain that he could never be serious about anything), he said, "I didn't recognize you at first. Didn't you used to have a tail?"

"Is that how I appear in your memories? As a ginger tail?" Shippo said, wincing exaggeratedly (_They're a perfect match,_ Haruka thought with a sigh). "I did used to have a tail, but it disappeared from my human form when I reached maturity-"

"_Physical_ maturity, anyway," Satsuki cut in, rolling her eyes, which only made him grin wider.

"-and learned to take on the fox form," Shippo finished. Then he looked over at the kids. "But since they're hanyou, they'll never transform," he said, "so they'll always have tails. Like your father's ears," he added thoughtfully. "Kagome learned to leave those alone yet?"

"Are you kidding?" Isamu said incredulously, glancing at the small children's tails- so that's what they were, and they were bloody huge balls of fluff, too- "I'm fairly certain that the only reason that she even had Kiki was so that she could play with _her_ ears, considering that Otou-san gets so embarrassed when she plays with his..."

"So you were gone..." Kazuki said, counting on his fingers, "what, fourteen years, and it never crossed your mind to stop back and say hi?"

"Well, to be honest..." Shippo said, dropping a little of his baka air, "We had a bit of trouble."

"My village weren't particularly accepting of a youkai," Satsuki explained sadly, twining her fingers through her mate's. "We had to leave, and roamed for a couple of years. We found a village that would accept us and let us stay, so long as Shippo protected them. We felt safe enough there to have Hotaru, who's _nearly_ five whatever she says, Satoshi, who's three, and Momo, who just turned two."

"But in reality, they didn't trust me," Shippo said, actually sounding bitter now. It was a shock to Haruka. She could quite clearly remember Shippo, and he'd been a very friendly, carefree kid; he was no killer, and she couldn't believe that anyone could see him as _dangerous_. But apparently, paranoia was everywhere these days.

"We should have seen the signs," Satsuki said sadly. "I heard the other women in the village telling their children not to play with ours, that they were unnatural, because of their tails." She glanced over at her children, who had split up, now- Satoshi still playing tag with Michio and Yoshinori, while Kiki and Hitomi braided Hotaru's hair. Momo was sitting next to Akira, playing with Tsukiko as she sat in Takumi's lap. The Kitsune-hanyou looked, without exception, as if they were having the time of their lives. Satsuki's face melted into a gentle smile as she watched her children play happily. "Really, I think this must be the first time that they've played with any children other than each other..."

"So the villagers chased you out?" Kazuki asked. Shippo nodded, his face hard.

"They heard of the massacres down south and decided that I was a danger," Shippo said. "I should thank you for saving us. I _do_ know Kitsune Yojutsu that's good for real fighting, for killing, but I don't think I have it in me to kill. If it weren't for you, we'd all be dead."

"You're going to be dead _anyway_ if you don't rest those wounds," Yuki said. "You'd better heal fast, because there's not enough of us to carry the five of you, too..."

"Sure, sure, I'll sleep..." Shippo chuckled, wincing a little as he settled back onto his heavily bandaged wounds.

"You and I can go into a nearby village tomorrow, Yuki," Haruka said. "He's probably not going to be ready to go tomorrow, and we could take the chance to stock up on food and medical supplies..."

"Can I ask one more question?" Shippo said. "Hey, human girl who inexplicably has Tenseiga-" Kazeko jumped, realizing that he meant her "-What's your name?"

"Kazeko," she replied. He stared at her for a second, then nodded. She looked back at the children.

"Her father's the general of the army in the south, he gave her those wounds when he found out that she had made friends with a youkai, I'm sure you can guess which one," Isamu muttered to the thoughtful-looking Kitsune. "Oji-san saved her and we decided to bring her with us. We've gathered who she may have been in a past life. Given that oji-san actually gave her Tenseiga, and it protected her, we've also gathered that not a lot's changed."

"Does she know?" Shippo muttered back.

"We figured we'd get round to telling her when we had a bit of rest time," Isamu replied quietly. Shippo grinned slightly and gestured at the mass of bandages covering him.

"Tomorrow looks good for that," he commented. "An eyewitness account may help you out, anyway."

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_As an extra apology for taking forever on the last chapter, I just bashed this out in the past half-hour. It helps that most of it was already written. Anyway, putting things in an altogether lighter tone... who better than Shippo-chan? Kawaiii!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	23. Chapter 23

_**Chapter Twenty-Three**_

_Kazeko ran, her breath coming in harsh gasps. She was surrounded with a thick mist; she wasn't certain what she was running from, but she knew that she had to get away._

_She skidded to a halt at the edge of the cliff. This was the cliff near her home, wasn't it? But it seemed so much higher. It vanished into the mists below. Kazeko nudged a pebble off of the edge with her toe. It fell out of sight and she didn't hear it hit the ground. Maybe the sound was muffled by the mist. She could hear her pulse pounding in her ears and put her hand to her chest to see if her heartbeat was as fast._

_She felt nothing._

"_There you are, you bitch!"_

_Kazeko turned with a gasp. Her father was standing there, sword outstretched, an angry red glow in his eyes._

"_You traitorous little slut," he growled. "Die!"_

_He thrust his sword out. Kazeko felt a piercing pain as it ripped straight through her. But there was another odd pain, like a fire. Her father pulled the sword out of her with a sickening _schlurp_. She stared down at the wound. A thick, dark smoke was curling from the edges, burning a huge hole in her chest. She gasped as blood filled her mouth and she fell backwards from the cliff._

_The wind whistled through her hair as she fell forever. She felt an odd sense of peace as she felt its cool caress, blowing away the smoke that poured from her wound like blood. She closed her eyes, content to feel the breeze, when she hit water._

_The current was strong. She couldn't have fought it if she tried. She didn't try. It calmed the burn of the wound. The hole was growing ever larger, but it was no longer burning- the water was soothing it. Kazeko waited to drown or dissolve._

_Neither happened. Kazeko felt something wrap around her, warm but firm. It was an arm. Someone was pulling her from the water. She hissed as her wound began to burn again in the open air, but the arm held her against something warm and soft. She tried to open her eyes, to see her rescuer, but there was a bright glow that blinded her. She screwed up her eyes. Was it sunny? Hadn't it been foggy before? As her eyes adjusted, Kazeko realized that yes, it was sunny, but it was also her saviour. He was glowing brightly. All she could see of him was a white glow, but she could also feel something emanating from him, warm and comforting and invisible, wrapping around her. He was holding her close to him with one hand, and the other was holding another glowing object, an organic-looking lump that was pulsing faintly._

"_I think this is yours," he said softly, pressing the lump to her chest. The hole was gone, and so was the lump, but now Kazeko could feel a heavy thumping in her chest._

"_Not really," she whispered. "Of course you had it. I gave it to you the first day I met you." Kazeko could see SesshoMaru more clearly now, but she didn't need to. She had known all along whom it was. Stronger now, she leaned up and pressed her lips to his._

"Kazeko?"

Kazeko moaned as she blinked awake. Mitsuko was sitting over her with a worried expression.

"Are you all right?" The tigress said worriedly. "You were whimpering and moaning so much, it looked like you were having a nightmare..."

"I _was_," Kazeko grumbled, sitting up, "but you woke me up just after it turned into a dream."

"Oh, Gomen," Mitsuko said. "Well, you're up now- how's the ankle?"

"Hmm?" Kazeko stood up. "Hey, it's stopped hurting!" she flexed the ankle a little and walked, not limped, over to the fire pit. They were in an old woodcutter's hut- little buildings with plenty of wood, a little food and generally an indoor water pump in case some hunter or woodcutter became stranded on the mountain. The places were a Kami-send.

"We're staying here today," Mitsuko said, "so maybe you should walk around on it a little. It'll help the healing."

"We're staying? Oh, yeah..." Kazeko glanced over at their newest invalid. The Kitsune was sleeping deeply, although little could be seen of him but bandages. The strange thing was that little images were dancing above his head. Kazeko saw a spinning top, and some odd multi-coloured sticks, and a shining pink orb.

"Weird, isn't it," Mitsuko said. "It started a little after he went to sleep. Must be Kitsune Yojutsu or something. They're kind of weird youkai."

"You're telling me," Kazeko said. She mentally shook herself. The dream was still staying in her head- the pain and fear, the falling, the feeling of dissolving. But the thing that wasn't going away was the memory of SesshoMaru's kiss. She was glad that no-one could see her dreams.

*********************************************************************************************************

Haruka fiddled with the ties on her shinpads in frustration. She grinned in triumph when they slipped loose, and pulled off the solid pads to slip on the straw sandals. Yuki was fiddling with the mandarin buttons on her collar, loosening it so that it could be hidden under her yukata.

"Feels like I haven't worn civvies in ages," she commented. "All right, let's double-check our story, you know the older women will be pumping us for information while they scrounge up spare supplies..."

"Okay," Haruka said. "We're going with Tsukiko being _your_ baby, right?"

"Hell no, she's being our sister, remember?" Yuki said. "If she was one of ours, then _we'd_ be able to feed her, wouldn't we?"

"Forgot about that," Haruka admitted. "Okay, younger brother and sister, all others dead of starvation, father killed in war, mother in childbirth, going north to meet older brother in a castle-town, figure we can get work there, want to find Takumi an artists' apprenticeship..."

"Are we going with real names if they ask?" Yuki asked with a frown.

"Do you really think they're going to make any sort of connection between a few orphaned kids and masses of murderous youkai?" Haruka said. "Besides, it'd be more suspicious if we made up false names and then accidentally called each other by our real ones."

"And we're not just doing the poor young widower with baby routine, why...?" Kazuki asked. Isamu smacked him on the back of the head.

"Baka. We're still near Shippo and Satsuki's village, you know," he said. "We don't know that none of the ones who attacked Shippo were from nearby villages, and they saw your face. Not that's it's not completely untrustworthy to begin with."

"And he manages to slip in an insult in the last second," Kazuki grumbled. "Whatever. Get lots of stuff, okay? Once it starts snowing, nobody'll have anything to spare. There's some pretty heavy rain in the south, you can see the clouds from here if you get into a treetop."

"All the more reason to get moving ASAP," Yuki said, picking up Takumi. "Later."

Isamu watched them go, but Kazuki was watching the south again.

"I wonder if it'll slow them down," he said quietly.

"Parents or army?" Isamu asked flatly.

"Both."

"Yes and hopefully," Isamu said. "And both of that's bad."

"Because 'hopefully' generally means 'no' when it comes to these guys," Kazuki said, turning and walking back to the little hut. For once, Isamu couldn't find a reason to contradict him.

*********************************************************************************************************

"There's lightning now," Rin said thoughtfully, peering out of the window of the little forest hut that they were hiding in. InuYasha was growling in frustration again. The rainy season was coming on strong this year, and they had to run in the dry times, no matter what time of day that they were; InuYasha was on the verge of suggesting running during the rain when Rin mentioned the lightning. There was no way that they could go out in that.

Kagome was leaning against the wall, sitting upright, gently rubbing her stomach and humming something under her breath. It had a soft, pleasant tune, but it was still a little sad. Sango had her eyes closed and was nodding gently along with it.

"I've heard you humming this song before, Kagome-chan," the taijiya said thoughtfully. "Is it a song from your time?"

"Yes, it's a western one," Kagome said, "but I quite liked it. I can't remember the verses very well, but the chorus stands out clearly."

"Can you sing it?" Miroku asked with interest. "I've never heard a "western" song before." Kagome closed her eyes and tipped her head back, as if sorting through her memories. Then she began to sing quietly.

"_If it takes my whole life,_

_I won't break, I won't bend_

_It'll all be worth it_

_Worth it in the end_

'_Cause I can only tell you what I know_

_That I need you in my life_

_And when the stars have all burned out_

_You'll still be burning so bright..._"

Kagome opened her eyes and shrugged with a slight smile. "That's all I can remember," she admitted. "I know the tune, I just don't know any more of the words."

"Still, it's a lovely song," Rin said. "It's kind of romantic, but... it's so sad."

"I always hummed it when I was pregnant with Kiki and Isamu," Kagome said. "They seemed to like it."

"Can the new baby hear it, though?" Kohaku asked dubiously. "You're not even five months yet..."

"Youkai and hanyou babies develop much faster than human ones," SesshoMaru said. It was rare that he spoke at all, so everyone listened. "They spend as long as human babies do in the womb simply because they develop more than humans do- extra strength and senses take longer to grow. By now, the baby will be able to hear sounds. It will know its mother's voice, scent and heartbeat before it is born."

"Wow," Rin said. "I had no idea. So it can hear you singing?"

"It'll probably even remember the song," Kagome said with a gentle smile. Then an odd glint surfaced in her eyes as she looked out at the storm. "And I intend to see that it lives long enough to sing for itself."

*********************************************************************************************************

"You're pretty well healed, aside from your arm," Mitsuko said, rewrapping Kazeko's sling. "But you're only human. It'll take a couple of months."

"Great," Kazeko said. "Isn't it nice how the end of my need for medicine coincides with a new invalid?"

"Aww, be nice," Shippo complained and stuck his tongue out at her. Satoshi giggled and imitated his father. Satsuki simply gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Anyway, where were we?" Haruka asked, folding up her yukata and stuffing it into her pack. "Since we're not going anywhere, maybe we should get back to the stories."

"Oooh, that's right," Mitsuko said. "Weren't you telling us about... the Yourouzoku?" She hesitated, realizing that that night had been the night before they had met Yuudai.

"Yeah," Isamu said. "Did we tell you who it was that killed them?"

"No, you were giving an explanation of how Naraku created his 'bunshin'," Mitsuko said. "Didn't one of them kill the Yourouzoku?"

"Oh... yeah," Haruka said. She seemed suddenly uneasy, but she masked it well, as did her brother and sister. Isamu was looking away.

"I remember that," Shippo said. "Turns out the Yourouzoku had been lured to Naraku's castle... they'd heard rumours that the castle lord had huge amount s of Shikon No Kakera. Well, strictly speaking, that was true. It was a trap. Naraku wanted to make InuYasha and Koga fight to the death so that he could get Koga's shards."

"How does that work?" Kazeko asked with a frown.

"Simple, really," Isamu said, "at least, given the powers that the second bunshin had. Her name was Kagura."

Mitsuko's back stiffened. Kagura...

"_Who is Kagura?" she asked angrily. Isamu looked over at her, and she was surprised at how sad he looked._

"_Was," Haruka said softly. "She died twenty years ago."_

"_She was a highly skilled Kaze-youkai," Yuki said._

"_She was one of that bastard Naraku's "children", but Kohaku-oji-san says that she wasn't evil like him." Kazuki said. "We'll explain Naraku in a minute," he added to a fresh look of confusion from Mitsuko._

"_And..." Isamu added, looking around, as if he didn't think he had the right to say what he was saying. "Okaa-san thinks... she was in love with Oji-san. And they think that he... he cared about her too."_

She glanced over at Kazeko, but she'd had no reaction to the name. Of course she didn't. She had no idea, did she? No idea of who she might once have been. Instead, Kazeko simply looked as interested as she always did when it came to the tales of what Isamu and the others' parents had gone through in the struggle for the Shikon No Tama.

"Kagura could control the wind, you see," Kazuki said. "And the dead, we were told."

"She could," Shippo agreed. "She was very skilled, too."

"You met her?" Kazeko said. "Oh, yeah... You used to travel with Kagome-sama and the others, didn't you?"

"Yep," Shippo said proudly. "I was just a kit at the time, but I remember it all clearly. Especially what Naraku did. His plans were always near-perfect; it was generally Kagome's powers that saved us."

"Kagura killed all of the Yourouzoku, didn't she?" Yuki asked. "Then she made their corpses attack Okaa-san and Otou-san and everyone."

"Yeah, and that was creepy as hell," Shippo said with a shudder. "Then she dropped her control half a second before Koga showed up, so what he saw was a mass of dead comrades and InuYasha, Tessaiga drawn, drenched in wolf-blood. It was one hell of a fight. It ended when we thought that InuYasha had been killed and Kagura showed herself to finish off Koga. InuYasha recovered and she got a Kaze No Kizu in the face."

"Hold on a mo," Mitsuko said. "I happen to have seen one of those in action. How in the seven hells did she survive?"

"InuYasha had a broken arm," Shippo said, shrugging. "It didn't have enough force. Anyway, she legged it on that feather of hers- she used to wear this feather in her hair that could grow big enough to fly on, see." Mitsuko glanced over at Kazeko. The girl had a faraway look on her face. Mitsuko frowned. What was her friend thinking of?

*********************************************************************************************************

_A feather..._

"So what happened to her after that?" Kazeko asked. She was suddenly very curious about Kagura.

"Oh, she came back and fought a few times," Shippo said. "She had to. She couldn't disobey Naraku."

"Why?" she asked. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Mitsuko was watching her with an odd expression.

"Naraku had her heart in his hands." Shippo said, looking suddenly serious. "Literally. If she stepped out of line, all that he had to do was _squeeze_. It was the same for all of them."

"Bet she hated that," Kazeko said, without thinking. She noticed the same odd expression flicker across Isamu, Kazuki, Yuki and Haruka's faces.

"Oh, yeah," Shippo said, in the same serious voice. "But in the end, she rebelled once too often. Naraku gave her heart back- full of shouki. She died slowly, in pain, but..."

"That sounds horrible," Kazeko said, clutching her chest. She was thinking of the dream. How horrible must it have been, to melt, heart-first?

"She was smiling, actually," Shippo said. "Because she wasn't alone."

Kazeko remembered the feather in SesshoMaru's hands.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_The chorus is from a song that I've taken a particular liking to at the moment, "Answer", by Sarah McLachlan. It's sad but hopeful, a tone that I found poignantly perfect for things as they are._

_And thanks to Saphira404 for commenting! Writer's block is gone, so I WILL be updating as often as possible now! _

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	24. Chapter 24

_**Chapter Twenty-Four**_

Kazeko clutched at Tenseiga. "SesshoMaru-sama," she whispered.

"What?" Isamu said, staring sharply at her. Kazeko cleared her throat.

"SesshoMaru had a feather," she said, louder now. "I saw him looking at it once. It was... hers, wasn't it? Kagura's?" Kazeko felt a pang at uttering the name. She felt jealous. But she also felt... sad?

"Yes," Shippo said. "He was the one who stayed with her while she was dying. We were looking for her, but only found her at her last moments. She just... dissolved, blew away on the wind. It was so weird that SesshoMaru was standing there- we hadn't actually known that the two of them had ever even met, to be honest. When he was leaving, InuYasha asked if Kagura had been suffering, and SesshoMaru just said that she was smiling.

"Chichi-ue told us about her," Yoshinori said. Kazeko jumped, as did the others. Satoshi had run to get the other children when they'd started telling stories. "He said he always felt real guilty, 'cause it was because she saved him that Naraku killed her."

"He said that she went off on her own a lot," Michio added. "It must have been to see SesshoMaru."

"I think it's sad," Kiki said. "Okaa-san says she thinks Kagura was really a good person, and didn't deserve to die the way she did."

"The really weird thing was that battle against Goryomaru, afterwards," Shippo said thoughtfully. "Goryomaru was dissing Kagura's memory, and SesshoMaru got so pissed that he attacked him too hard and snapped his sword!"

"Oji-san lost his temper?" Isamu asked in surprise.

"SesshoMaru _has_ a temper?" Kazuki asked in even greater shock. Shippo laughed.

"Maybe he felt guilty that he couldn't save her," Satsuki suggested, but Shippo shook his head.

"Well, that's probably part of it, but if he kept her feather, then it's more than that," he said. "Poor guy..."

"Who's SesshoMaru?" Hotaru asked.

"He's my Oji-san," Kiki said. "He's an inu-youkai..."

"Geez, it's crowded in here," Mitsuko said, looking over the crowd of younger children. Not counting Tsukiko, there were now ten of them. "Let's go exercise that ankle, Kazeko."

"Good idea." Kazeko carefully stood up, but there were no twinges of pain in her ankle. She walked out of the hut and along a little path with Mitsuko. Finally, she sighed and prepared herself. "Okay, Mitsuko. Give it to me."

""Jealous of a dead woman?" the tigress asked. Kazeko winced, but she could tell that her friend had been bursting to ask.

"Not really," she said. "I mean... I don't really have a right to be, do I?"

"Means 'yes'," Mitsuko muttered, getting her a shove from Kazeko.

"I mean... well, he just sees so _sad_ sometimes, you know?" Kazeko said, a little red. "SesshoMaru-sama. And I feel a little pissed off at her for making him that sad, even though not _all_ of his sadness is her fault and, anyway, it's not like she chose to die, right?" she glanced at Mitsuko, but she had clearly decided to stay quiet and let Kazeko get things out of her system. "But... I also fell really, really sad. Like how sad she must have been. I think it must have really hurt her, not to be free, you know? And she spent all of her freedom in pain... I think she wanted to fly, and she never could. I guess, even if _am_ jealous- which i'm _not-_" Mitsuko grinned, and Kazeko winced again when she realized that her words quite transparently meant "I totally am" – "I guess I can't help feeling really, really sorry for her. I don't know. It's a little confusing." Kazeko remembered her dream, and the feeling of emptiness in her chest; it had made her feel like a doll, something that wasn't really real, wasn't really alive. How must it have felt to have that feeling, every single day? The feeling of not even being a real _person_?

"Kazeko?"

Kazeko turned. Shippo was limping over to them, leaning on Isamu and Kazuki. "Yes?"

"I just think you ought to know," he said, "in scent, voice, face, everything- you're almost her perfect double. Kagura's, I mean."

"_You look like someone I used to know... She died a long time ago."_

Kazeko was horrified to feel a hot sting of tears behind her eyes. Was that it? Was that why he saved her? Because she was just like Kagura? Or was she Kagura? The Kitsune was implying that Kazeko was some kind of reincarnation. Was that why she felt that sadness when she heard Kagura's story? A sadness that hadn't felt like her own, because it wasn't- it was Kagura's.

"So that's what it was," she muttered. "Because i'm her..." Now even her own feelings were confusing her. Did she care about SesshoMaru, or was it simply Kagura's old feelings? What were really her feelings?

"Well, no," Kazuki said, to Kazeko's shock. "Because SesshoMaru said something, the day he brought you back. He said, _"I know who she looks like. I know who she may have been. I also know who she is_." "

Kazeko stared at Tenseiga as she slowly turned those words over.

"Can I add something?" Isamu said. "Okaa-san told me a lot about fate and destiny. We told you that she's the reincarnation of Otou-san's first love, Kikyo. She says that she thinks that it's because of Kikyo that she and Otou-san were destined to meet. But Kikyo wasn't what made them stay together. Otou-san says that he sees Okaa-san and Kikyo as separate people, reincarnation or not. He didn't fall in love with Okaa-san because she was the reincarnation of his ex, you know? It was _her_ that he cared about. I dunno if you're Kagura's reincarnation or not, but if Oji-san's half the youkai I think he is and won't admit in front of Otou-san, he doesn't care about Kagura here. He cares about you."

Kazeko didn't look at him. She was feeling even more confused now. She slowly sat down on a tree stump and put Tenseiga on her lap, staring at it as she mulled things over.

She vaguely heard Shippo muttering to the others. "Let's go back for now. She'll need to be on her own for a bit. It's a big revelation."

"I'll be here, in case she needs anything," Mitsuko whispered back. Shippo was presumably being helped back to the hut by Isamu and Kazuki, but Kazeko wasn't paying attention.

*********************************************************************************************************

"It looks like it's going to start up again soon," Miroku observed, staring up at the sky which had been uniformly grey from dawn to dusk for several days now. Sango nodded in agreement, Kohaku clutching Rin a little tighter behind her. Since Kirara had healed entirely, the three of them were now riding together and SesshoMaru was periodically vanishing for his own reasons.

"Speak of the devil," Kagome muttered as the tall white Inu-Youkai appeared, quite still, in front of them. InuYasha ground to a halt half an inch from colliding head-first with his half-brother.

"You bastard, what the-"

"Get up the side of the mountain and look south, baka. No complaints, just do it."

"What-"

"Just do it."

"InuYasha, maybe we should see what's wrong..." Kagome said. At her words, InuYasha shut up, nodded and ran up the cliff-face. Miroku sighed. Under normal circumstances, he's be making a joke about a dog and its master or some such, but the mood at the moment was so fearful and sad- he couldn't help thinking that it was the shocking news of Koga's death that had brought that bittersweet "western" song to Kagome's mind- he didn't feel up to bedevilling InuYasha. Besides, Sango was in earshot, and was more than likely to remind him what a Hiraikotsu to the skull felt like.

InuYasha and Kagome reappeared. Miroku could instantly tell that something was wrong. Kagome was snow-white and InuYasha was letting off a stream of expletives without drawing breath.

"What is it?" Sango asked. Miroku could hear the tiny tremor in her voice, something people who didn't know her well enough would be unable to distinguish underneath her taijiya strength.

InuYasha stopped swearing long enough to say "The ships."

"We can see them from here," Kagome said. "I don't believe it. They're so fast..."

"We need to move, now," Kohaku said. "It's all the time we spent sheltering that they caught up. So we'd better move while it's dry."

"Move when it's raining if we have to," Rin said with unusual force. "We have to catch up to the kids!"

SesshoMaru was staring north with a faraway expression.

"We'd be better to be moving rather than talking," he said, setting off.

*********************************************************************************************************

"Gotcha! Ooooh, Soft!""

Kiki shrieked when Satoshi grabbed her ears and instinctively flattened them, making the demented little hanyou start laughing. She turned and punched at him, but he dodged, a little blur of cackling orange.

"Want my katana?" Hitomi offered sympathetically.

"I got a better idea," Hotaru said, pointing at the little spinning top that the girls had been playing with before Satoshi's interruption. Momo started giggling madly as Kiki and Hitomi stared at the little toy, nonplussed. Hotaru wrapped the whip around it, aimed it at Satoshi- still laughing, happily oblivious, with Yoshinori and Michio- and let loose. Kiki and Hitomi's eyes widened as they watched the tiny wooden toy grow huge and bear down on the boys, who yelled and ran. Takumi, who as usual was playing with Tsukiko and Akira, tried not to giggle as he watched his brother and cousin try to escape the oncoming maimage. They ran straight into Isamu, Shippo, and Kazuki.

"What the hell?" Isamu yelped as he saw the incoming top. Shippo sighed and held out a hand. When he touched the top, it shrank into a tiny toy in his hand.

"I'm with Isamu," Kazuki said, staring at the little toy, and then over his shoulder at his brother and cousin, who were now pressing Satoshi for an explanation. "What the hell?"

"Hotaru," Shippo called. The little girl appeared before her father looking completely guilty. "Didn't I tell you about using your Kitsune Yojutsu responsibly? I mean, it's possible that I didn't, I just want to check."

"Strange as it may seem," Satsuki said, "You _have_ actually talked to her and Satoshi about that. I remember because it was very, very hard not to burst out laughing when _you_ started talking about responsibility."

"You did, Otou-san," Hotaru said meekly. Satoshi sniggered.

"Busted, onee-chan," he said. Satsuki rounded on him.

"And so are you, Satoshi, because once we're done with Hotaru we're going to want to know precisely _why_ she was trying to maim you."

"That's what you could have done, Hotaru," Shippo said, now limping back to the hut. Satsuki grabbed her children's hands and followed her mate. Michio and Yoshinori followed, both throwing pitying looks at Satoshi.

"But Otou-san," Hotaru said, in an attempt to dig herself out, "You said that you used it before and it didn't do a lot of damage..."

"To a _full-grown youkai_, yes," Shippo said. "But your three-year-old brother it would do serious damage to. You're not old enough to control it that way, Hotaru-chan." He smiled and patting his pouting daughter on the head. "I gave you the top to be a _toy_, all right? When you're older, I'll teach you how to use it properly, but for now, it's only for playing with, 'kay?" He handed the little top back to his daughter, who smiled and ran back over to Hitomi and Kiki.

"Do something dangerous like that again and you won't get it back!" Satsuki warned. Then she turned on her only son with a frown.

"So, Satoshi," Shippo said pleasantly, "care to tell us why your sister was set on your life?"

"It was just a joke," the little hanyou said. Then he pointed at Yoshinori and Michio. "Anyway, _they_ dared me to do it."

"Do...?" Satsuki asked.

"Grab Kiki-chan's ears," Satoshi admitted. Isamu whistled under his breath.

"Lucky she didn't exorcise you into next century," he said.

"Kiki has holy powers?" Shippo asked with interest. "I didn't know hanyou could."

"Well, she burns herself when she uses them any time other than her human night," Isamu said, "but she considers it worth it if anyone other than Okaa-san messes with her ears." He waved his left hand, leaving it limp at the wrist, remembering a rather painful burn that he'd sustained at the age of ten. It had taken a fortnight to heal.

"_Back to the matter at hand_," Satsuki said, "Satoshi, no matter what they dare you to do, be nice, all right? How would you like it if someone yanked your tail?" Satoshi blushed and flicked his tail behind him. "Now go apologize to Kiki-chan."

"Okay," Satoshi said, and ran over to the girls.

"And you two," Kazuki said, grabbing Michio and Yoshinori by the back of their shirts as they tried to creep away, "Stop causing trouble, got it? Just because Chichi-ue and the others aren't here doesn't mean that you aren't still gonna get your asses parented if there's trouble."

"_You're_ going to parent our asses?" Yoshinori said in shock.

"Would you rather Yuki did it?" Isamu asked with a grin. Both boys flinched.

"We'll be good," they chorused, before fleeing the second that Kazuki let them go.

"'Parent their asses'?" Satsuki asked, glancing over at Takumi, who was telling a story to Akira and Tsukiko- and Momo, who had clearly gotten out of the way as soon as the trouble started.

"If you're worried about their vocabularies, don't' be," Haruka sighed. "There's not much he can do to damage the vocabularies of any children who've spent any time at all around Inu-Oji-san."

"Or any children who've been _around_ the aforementioned children," Yuki chimed in. "If they think they can get away with anything just because the parents are still down south..."

"Well, clearly they're no less scared of you without Hiraikotsu," Kazuki teased. Shippo raised his eyebrows.

"You get to wield Hiraikotsu?" he asked with interest. He looked around as if expecting to see the massive weapon pop out of nowhere.

"Okaa-san gave it to me at the end of my training," Yuki said, "But I gave it back to her for the duration. Even if she hasn't had a proper fight in over a decade, I don't' doubt she's still better than any of us," she added with a reverent sigh.

"Nii-san?"

Isamu turned. Kiki was looking nervous. "Kiki-chan? What's that baka do now?"

"Nothing," Kiki said. "It's just... what happened to Onee-san?"

"Onee... oh, Kazeko?" Yuki asked. "Actually, that's a good question."

"Did she need to be alone?" Haruka asked Isamu. "I'm guessing you told her?"

"Yeah," Isamu said. Kiki looked confused. "She stayed in the forest with Mitsuko," he said to his little sister. "She might want to be alone, though..."

"Is she sad?" Kiki asked. "If she is, then I wanna go cheer her up!"

"Kiki-chan-" Haruka called, but the little girl was already gone.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_I just realized... I DO have a ton of tiny kids here. O_O and I just realized that the army may be too far behind for them to be where I need them to be... rainy days abound, I guess..._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	25. Chapter 25

_**Chapter Twenty-Five**_

The cold breeze drifted through Kazeko's hair. She loved the feel of the wind, but now she wondered if it was really _her_ loving it, at all.

She was no longer clutching Tenseiga, but had put it on her lap, staring at it as she thought things over. Mitsuko was nearby- Kazeko could feel the difference in the air, centring on the place where she knew the tigress was- but she was out of sight and silent, and for that, Kazeko was both grateful and annoyed. Grateful because she needed a little alone time to think, but also annoyed, because her thoughts were going in circles, and she half-wanted someone to share them with.

"_If Oji-san's half the youkai I think he is... "_

"_You look like someone I used to know..."_

"_He only cares about you..."_

"_I know who she may have been..."_

_You're almost her perfect double..._

Kazeko didn't like that feeling- of being compared to someone else. Of knowing that every time they looked at her, they thought of someone else. It was even worse, knowing that this someone else was dead, and had died in great pain. Kazeko felt so sorry for Kagura, but equally, she was angry at her for being her preincarnation. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn't make the anger go away. She hated feeling Kagura's pain, the ghost of a memory, but it was that same pain that made it hard for her to hate the woman. Still, she wanted to be seen as herself- _only_ herself. Kazeko dropped her head onto her knees. The absurd, circling thoughts were giving her a headache. The harder she tried to straighten them, the faster they twirled. She wanted to talk to someone, but who would understand? Kagome, maybe. But she wasn't here. Kazeko felt as if she was now burdened with an extra person in her head, a burden she hadn't noticed until it had been pointed out, but she had no-one to talk to.

She wondered who SesshoMaru saw when he looked at her.

"Onee-chan?"

Kazeko looked up. Kiki was running up to her, looking worried. Her ears twitched nervously as she ran to Kazeko's side.

"I was worried 'cause you didn't come back," Kiki said. "Are you okay, Onee-chan?"

"I'm..." Kazeko forced a smile for Kiki, which she was sure the girl instantly saw through. "I'll be fine."

"Is it because of Kagura?" Kiki asked, with such uncanny accuracy that Kazeko nearly fell off of the stump. Kiki saw her face and knew that she'd hit the target. "I wish you could talk to Okaa-san. She'd understand."

"Yeah..." Kazeko admitted. Kiki sat next to her, staring at the sky. "I guess i'm not quite sure who I am at the moment."

"You're onee-chan," Kiki said simply. "_Kagura's_ not my onee-chan. Although maybe you'll be Oba-san someday," she added with a giggle that made Kazeko blush. Then she shook her head.

"It's not that simple," she said sadly. To her surprise, Kiki was feverently shaking her head as well.

"It can be," she insisted. "I think it was easier for Okaa-san to accept that she was a different person from Kikyo because she met her. Her soul was in two different bodies at once, and each of them had a different facet in control." Kazeko stared at the little inu-hanyou, nonplussed.

"Facets?" she asked in some confusion. Kiki nodded.

"Okaa-san told me about souls," Kiki said. "She said, imagine that a soul is a big white sphere, right? Now, if a soul goes to the Next Realm and comes back in a new body, it's now a little different shape. The old soul is there, but it's only half of the soul now. Different facets. Maybe if you die, they separate, separate people. So there's two bits of your soul, onee-chan. And the first bit, Kagura's bit-" Kazeko couldn't help flinching inwardly at the name; it was causing her a lot of emotional difficulty at the moment "-Called out to Oji-san's soul. But it couldn't make him stay, because it wasn't the important bit anymore. The important bit is you, onee-chan. If Oji-san hadn't cared about _you_, rather than Kagura, he wouldn't have stayed with you."

Kagura stared at Tenseiga for a minute. She was having a hard time wrapping her head around the story. She almost wished that she could have met Kagura, in person; it would have cemented her knowledge that they were different people. But thinking about it, it sounded like Kagura was her invisible twin; like a twin who'd hooked her up with a prospective husband who'd turned out to be perfect and, above all, married her because he cared about her, not because the invisible twin had told him so.

"_I also know who she is._"

Kazeko suddenly reached out and hugged Kiki. Kiki grinned and hugged her back.

"Do you feel better, onee-chan?" she asked. "I don't want you to be sad..."

"You know what?" Kazeko said. "I do feel better. Thank you, Kiki-chan." She stood and slid Tenseiga into her obi. Odd that a sword could feel warm under her grip. But, she realized, it did; metal and wood that would always have been cold had instead always felt as warm to her as living flesh. Did it care for her, as its master did?

"Ready to go back to camp?" Mitsuko said. "If that Kitsune heals enough tonight, he can run and carry his family tomorrow..."

"Oh!" Kiki said, grabbing Kazeko's hand and pulling her back towards the little hut. "You missed it, onee-chan! Something really funny happened! It started when Satoshi-kun..."

Kazeko giggled as she walked back, holding Kiki's hand, and knew that the happiness that was welling up within her was her own. Kagura never knew this kind of happiness. Though Kazeko would always feel the ghost of pain and bittersweet longing whenever she thought of Kagura, she also knew that the strong emotions, the real emotions- The joy and the sorrow, the love and the pain- were hers and hers alone.

The breeze blew softly through the trees, bringing with it the faint scent of rain.

*********************************************************************************************************

The huge bear roared as the arrow hit it in the stomach. A flash of light spread across its body, reducing all it touched to dust, until the bear itself was no more. Kirara pulled back up into the air, out of the reach of the paws of the largest of the giant bear-youkai, while Kagome nocked back another arrow.

Miroku pulled up a shield to block a descending claw. The bear howled as it felt a burning in its paw. While it was distracted, Sango thrust Hiraikotsu at its neck. Though the hide was abnormally tough, it could not stand up to Hiraikotsu; the youki-dispelling venom that was soaked into every inch of the gigantic bone dissolved the bear's skin, exposing the softer innards. The bear howled again in agony as it collapsed into dust.

"Watch your backs, there's still four've 'em out there somewhere!" InuYasha yelled as he sliced his claws into his palm and let off a HijinKessou at the huge bear that was swiping at Kagome and Kirara as if they were tiny flies. The bear dodged back- they were fast, despite their size- but still, several of the sharp red crescents sliced through its side. It howled in pain.

Four of the bears had disappeared into the trees; InuYasha could smell them circling, but the problem was that they were fast, and running in the same circle meant that they were running over their own scent, making it hard to pinpoint their location.

There were three now; SesshoMaru had vanished some time before and there was a terrible roar of bear pain coming from some way away. Suddenly, the bear-scent concentrated; they were running to help their friend fight against SesshoMaru. InuYasha had no time to worry about that, however, not that he would _ever_ admit to worrying about his half-brother's welfare. He narrowly dodged as the bear swung its massive paw at him. The weight of Kohaku's Kusarigama whizzed out, wrapping around the bear's wrist and jerking; but instead of breaking the bear's arm, as hoped, it just caused the bear to turn and attack Kohaku and Rin instead. InuYasha cursed and curled his fingers again, soaking them in his blood before the wound healed.

Another holy arrow, glowing pure white with power, whizzed past him and struck the bear in the centre of the back; like its comrade, the bear dissolved into ash in seconds. Sango ran over to check on Kohaku and Rin.

"So where's-" Miroku began, and cut off as his question was answered. There was a mingling of howls of pain, but not all of them sounded bearlike.

One of the gigantic bears suddenly crashed through the trees as if it had been thrown, straight towards them. Before they had time to dodge, however, it dissolved into dust. InuYasha ran through the new gap in the trees, but he didn't have to go far to see what was happening.

SesshoMaru had transformed into his giant dog form and was fighting the remaining two bears. Both of the bears had huge wounds, bubbling at the edges where SesshoMaru's venom burned them; but InuYasha caught a very familiar blood-scent, and sure enough, the white fur on the giant dog was marred with red in places. InuYasha cursed again, wishing he had Tessaiga.

"InuYasha," Kagome called, "I can't shoot. They're moving too much." The giant white shape and the two brown ones, only slightly smaller, were weaving and dodging as they fought. SesshoMaru yelped in pain as one of the bears bit down on his leg, and turned to bite off its outstretched paw in retaliation.

"InuYasha, we'd better draw one of them away," Miroku called. InuYasha snorted.

"I don't need you to tell me that, bouzo," he said as he unleashed another round of HijinKessou, only slightly worried about who he hit. Probably luckily, they all slammed into the back of one of the bears, who turned with a snarl and started lumbering towards InuYasha. An arrow to the head ended him. SesshoMaru bit down into the neck of the other; it howled as the acid burned away its neck, and dissolved.

InuYasha raised his head to smell the air, but it was saturated with the stench of blood and dead bears; still, he didn't think there were any more of them, or any other youkai in the area. Kirara seemed to agree. She landed beside InuYasha and Kagome dismounted. They watched as the stinking bear blood soaked into the ground; all plant life that wasn't already destroyed would die. Kagome closed her eyes and raised her hands in front of her face. A flash spread across the ground. There was no visible difference, aside from the colour of the soil being a little lighter. InuYasha looked at SesshoMaru.

He had returned to his human form, but it wasn't in the best shape either; though he walked over to them calm and composed as ever, he was just a little bit too pale, and InuYasha could both see and smell the fresh blood soaking through his shirt.

"SesshoMaru-sama!" Rin called, running past. "Are you all right?"

"No fatal damage," SesshoMaru replied smoothly.

"Still, you need to at least wrap those before we start moving," Rin insisted.

"Stupid bastard," InuYasha grumbled. "Gettin' beat by a bear."

"So next time, we'll let you go three on one against giant bear-youkai?" Kohaku asked cheerfully. InuYasha just snorted.

*********************************************************************************************************

_Kazeko was lost again, in the mist. But this time, she was holding Tenseiga. It made her feel a little better. It was SesshoMaru's, after all. It made her feel safe. It led her on._

_She felt the air shift again- the air changing in the way that it did around youkai. But it was a familiar shift. Kazeko ran towards the source. Suddenly, she tripped; but instead of falling to the ground, someone's arms caught her, a strong grip that gave her a sense of complete security. She looked up, knowing who she would see. His face shifted into that tiny smile, the golden glow of his eyes morphing from cold to warm._

"_SesshoMaru-sama," she said, standing up. "I still have your sword. You were right, it saved me."_

"_I am glad," he said. There was something about him that was a little different form last night's dream. He felt a little warmer, a little more solid, a little more real. Kazeko smiled too. Then her smile faded as she thought of the question that she didn't want to ask._

"_SesshoMaru-sama?" she asked hesitantly."I heard some stories about your past... about the search for the Shikon No Kakera and Naraku."_

"_When did they tell you about all of that?" he asked. His voice was flat and calm as ever, but somehow, Kazeko could detect the tiny undercurrent to his words-one that told Kazeko that he was thinking of the same person as her._

"_They also told me a lot about... Kagura," Kazeko continued. It was a little easier to speak her name after talking to Kiki, but still, Kazeko was afraid of what he would say. She waited._

_SesshoMaru's face was inscrutable. Then she saw it- The sadness pouring into his eyes, the faint creases of his face. "I often wish I could have changed what happened to her," he admitted. "I wish that I was then the person that I am now- the one who knows that caring for another is not weakness." SesshoMaru had still been holding one of her arms; now his hand slid down to grasp hers. "She suffered much because of my failures. I know what it is you want to know; whether I care about you for you, or Kagura?" Kazeko could not help blushing when he said that he cared about her. Her heart leapt and her stomach dropped. What would he say now? She could barely breathe, waiting for his answer._

"_I will admit that it intrigued me, when I first met you," he said softly, "How very much like her you were. Your face, your voice, your aura, your scent... all so familiar, and so comforting." Kazeko felt her heart stop. Be he was not done talking. "And yet, similar as you are, you are also different. Perhaps you are Kagura reborn or not, but that does not matter to me. Your very spirit is so brave but, at the same time... you are to kind, too compassionate. I believe I met you because it was destiny, that her soul should draw me to you; and yet, I think that if you were not the person that you are, I would have left once I had healed and never returned. I did not give you Tenseiga because of Kagura."_

_Kazeko felt her heart begin to beat again. She smiled gently, and saw the sadness dissipate from his gaze._

"_And when we get to Hokkaido..." she ventured. "When I return Tenseiga..."_

"_I will still be there," SesshoMaru said. Kazeko squeezed his hand back, the other clutching Tenseiga. For some reason, it was beginning to pull away._

"_SesshoMaru-sama..." she said, leaning up until her face was an inch from his._

"_You have no need to call me 'lord'," he said quietly, his breath brushing over her lips. She closed her eyes..._

... And heard a _clunk_.

Kazeko's eyes snapped open. She was in a hut. She was sleeping on the edge of the wooden floor. She had been holding Tenseiga, but she had rolled and it had fallen off of the edge. She hadn't been in that misty place with SesshoMaru...

Kazeko rubbed her eyes, knowing that she should wake up- out of the corner of her eye, she could see Haruka starting to cook rice, Yuki waking up Kazuki and Mitsuko- and then stopped. Slowly, as if moving too fast would make it vanish like the dream, she reached out and grabbed Tenseiga. Just as slowly, with her other hand, she pulled the blade just a little out of the sheathe. It was glowing blue. As soon as she saw it, the glow faded, but then flickered back, just for a second, as if it were winking at her. Kazeko slid the blade back in and held the blade close. It felt a little chilled, as if it had been left out in a cold mist.

*********************************************************************************************************

SesshoMaru slowly opened his eyes. Absent-mindedly, he registered that his wounds were almost fully healed, but that did not interest him. The dream did. It was strange. He still felt the lingering touch of Kazeko's aura as if she had been physically present.

Where had he been in his dream? He felt that he had been sleeping for some time before it had started, and then, as if called, he had been in that misty place. Something had been telling him to wait, an outside presence that was vaguely familiar. Something about the presence meant that SesshoMaru had no qualms about obeying. It was strange. He obeyed no-one. He'd never really obeyed anyone, anyway, except...

Kazeko had been there, wearing Tenseiga. It was the sword that had called him there, he was sure. And it had faded and vanished a second before the dream had. He smirked slightly. He knew that "not of the living world" did not exclusively refer to the realm of the dead. He idly wondered if it were true that part of a youkai's soul remained behind in anything that contained a physical part of them. It would explain the sword's tendency for working of its own accord. And for knowing what SesshoMaru needed better than he did.

He closed his eyes, remembering Kazeko's fears. He remembered Kagura. Yes, there was a strong resemblance, but Kagura was Kagura and Kazeko was Kazeko. He had never had any doubt about that. He also had no doubt that he could not afford to lose her too.

_Protect her, Tenseiga,_ he thought. _Do not fail me again._

"_I got to see you..."_

_Please._

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_Thanks to Saphira404 for giving me my 10__th__ review! Woo! I feel loved. _

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	26. Chapter 26

_**Chapter Twenty-Six**_

"Hayashi-sama," the head monk called. "I sense youki." Hayashi ran to the monk's side in an instant, watching the holy man lean over the side of the ship with a frown, staring straight to the west. There was a distant rumble, like thunder, and a flash like lighting. Yet, rare as it was, there was not a cloud in the sky.

"How many?" he asked sternly. The mink's brow creased.

"I am not sure, Hayashi-sama," he said. "There is quite a large concentration of youki. There could be many of them, but it may simply be a few exceptionally powerful ones. Like the white one who nearly killed Yamazaki-sama. I am sure that there is more than one, however." There was another distant rumble and a faint howl. "Of course, that may not be the case for much longer."

"Very good," Hayashi said. "I will inform Yamazaki-sama. We shall want to sail ahead of them, to lie in wait; he will decide when. Keep watch."

"Of course, Hayashi-sama," the monk said with a bow. Still, he seemed deeply concerned. Hayashi could not sense "youki", but there was something about that of that white bastard that was worrying the monks.

"Hayashi," Yamazaki said as Hayashi entered the general's cabin with a bow. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, rewrapping his wound. It was not bleeding but did not look as if it was healing well. Hayashi wondered if the general's days were numbered. "What have you to report?"

"Youkai, Yamazaki-sama," Hayashi said. "Directly to the west. The monks believe that there are several of them, and highly powerful ones, too; it may even be the white one and his friends. They cannot sense humans, so we do not know for sure if the dark warriors are there as well, but I am planning to order the ships to shore in a few hours time. They appeared to be battling; those who survive will likely have wounds to lick, which shall slow them down."

"Too much to hope that they'll all kill each other, eh?" Yamazaki remarked with a chuckle. "Well done. Carry on, Hayashi. But know that if that bastard is there, so will I be. And this time..." His hand tensed on his sword, gripping it so hard that his knuckles went white. Hayashi bowed in acquiescence.

"I will go inform the men, Yama-" Hayashi began, but was cut off. The monks were yelling on the upper deck.

"Youkai! Begone!"

Hayashi's blood ran cold. It was the middle of the night; most of the men were sleeping. If the youkai were attacking now...

There were sleepy calls as men awoke and tried to find out what was happening. Hayashi drew his sword and ran out into the corridor. He raised his sword and had it instantly slammed from his hand. He rolled on the floor as the youkai shot over his head.

"Yamazaki-sama-" he called and froze. The youkai was holding Yamazaki up by the neck, the general's feet dangling helplessly over the ground as he choked. The youkai was humanoid, but also grey and lined. Its eyes were glowing red as a low snarl rumbled in its throat. Hayashi slowly reached for his sword.

"You bastard," the youkai growled. "You murdering bastard. You killed them all, you know? All of them. Every last damn one. I looked everywhere. And there's no-one else. I'm alone. We're extinct. Thanks to _you_."

Yamazaki reached up to grasp the youkai's arm, as if to push it away, but the creature was superhumanly strong. Hayashi felt his hands close around the hilt of his sword and gently lifted it from the ground.

"I know your man there is lifting his sword," the youkai growled. Hayashi froze again. "I know he's going to kill me. After all, he only has to stab in _just_ the right place, and I've no doubt that he knows the right places. And you know what? I just have to squeeze. They'll kill me when I do, but I don't care. Because I'll get to see them again. My friends. My parents. My brothers. My mate and our son. You hear that, you bastard? People. Families. And _you destroyed them all_."

The wolf tightened his grip even more, causing Yamazaki to choke out a gasp and begin to go blue. The wolf raised his hand and Hayashi saw claws. He raised his sword, but he would not be fast enough.

There was a soft, organic noise and a spray of blood.

The youkai looked down at the broken staff that was sticking out of his chest. It was glowing so brightly white that his very flesh was dissolving into dust around it. To Hayashi's shock, he smiled gently, the most serene and happy smile that he had ever seen. Without his expression changing in the slightest, he flung Yamazaki so hard into the wall that it broke, the general falling into the monk's quarters on the other side. Still smiling, he watched his body dissolve.

"Aimi," he whispered. "Hideo. I missed you." He closed his eyes. It seemed to Hayashi that the smile was the last thing to dissolve.

He stayed sitting there, sword in hand, for a long moment. Then a monk, clutching an injured arm, staggered past him and picked up his staff. A couple of other monks, also nursing wounds, ran past him to attend to Yamazaki.

"Yamazaki-sama!"

"Yamazaki-sama, are you all right?"

Yamazaki slowly and carefully stood up. The monks began helping him back to his bed. Unnoticed, Hayashi went up to the deck, to assist the more grievously injured monks and soldiers. Two were dead; men who, half-asleep, had stuck their heads out of their rooms and received claws. Hayashi helped the men safely burn them and store their ashes to be sent home. In everything that had to be done in the wake of the youkai's attack, he forgot about the youkai that had been sensed. By the time the monks had mentioned it again. They were quite a ways ahead of where they had planned to be, and found themselves between two large concentrations of youki.

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Isamu led, as ever. Beside him now, however, ran a huge orange fox. On its back sat Satsuki, Momo strapped tightly to her back, Satoshi and Hotaru in her arms. Kazeko was now carrying Tenseiga, instead of Kazuki having it in his belt, but no-one commented on this change. Even Kazuki had too much tact. Despite the huge revelations which had come to her, however, Kazeko seemed happy- positively glowing, really. She and Kiki kept sharing little glances, frustrating Hitomi no end until Kiki started whispering into her ear, presumable explaining what the joke was, which Isamu was frankly growing curious about himself.

They had rewrapped a few of Shippo's wounds after his transformation. The very worst remained, and while they were little more than scratches now, they still tended to bleed more than Satsuki was happy with, and the dressings that they had wrapped around his human form did not fit a fox. As such, unless some other opportunity presented itself, he was stuck in fox form since nightfall. This was no real problem, however, as he kept conjuring little images in the air, illusions that amused the children no end; Isamu felt that, should the Kitsune have something serious to say, he'd have no problem conjuring an image of that as well.

The sun was now cresting midday, and Isamu's eyes roved over the sides of the mountains through which they were now passing. Suddenly, he scented fire- and youkai.

He sprinted up the cliff-edge to a concealed cave, where what looked to be a family of about five youkai- bulls, he could tell by their scent and size- were cooking some fish over a fire. As Isamu touched down in the cave, his friends appearing behind him, the father and two sons had already stood up and used their bulk to shield the wife and small daughter from view. Isamu put Kiki and Hitomi down, held up his hands and bowed in a show of goodwill.

"We're not here to fight, we just need a break from running," he explained.

"Are you all escaping from the armies too?" Mitsuko asked. The father nodded and signalled to his sons to sit down. It was possibly the large number of small children with them that made the family trust them. Mitsuko and the others began putting down their respective burdens, Haruka also digging out a tube of milk for Tsukiko. Satsuki climbed from Shippo's back and he ran over to the fire, curling up like a dog. Hotaru giggled and started digging in the pack for the rabbit that her father had caught earlier that morning, which had been wrapped up and saved to eat later.

"I am Ryoichi," The bull said, holding his hand out to Isamu, who shook it. "In the past, I might have fought, but I have a family now and I will not risk them. If I might ask, why are the humans running too? Friends? Family?"

Haruka sat down next to Isamu. "Isamu is my fiancée," she said, and he shot her a faint but slightly embarrassed grin, "And the others are my relatives- oh, except for Kazeko-san," she added, gesturing towards the injured girl. One of the sons, who looked about nineteen- not helpful , as it was generally around nineteen that youkai slowed down considerably in aging, so he could have been a hundred for all Isamu knew- widened his eyes at the sling in which Kazeko's broken left arm was still kept.

"And even if he wasn't my future brother-in-law," Yuki added, "We'd have had to run anyway; we're all simply too accepting of the notion that some youkai might _not_ be evil, murdering bastards."

"Unlike humans," Kazeko muttered angrily. Mitsuko giggled a little. "So, did the army chase you out?"

"No, we left before they could find us," Ryoichi said. "We heard that the Inu No Taishou had ordered everyone to move north or the armies would kill them."

"So SesshoMaru was warning people?" Shippo said. Isamu started. He hadn't realized that Shippo could talk in his fox form. He'd heard that his uncle couldn't. Then he realized what Shippo had actually _said_.

"Oji-san?" Isamu said. "He's the Inu No Taishou now?"

"Oji-san?" the younger-looking son said incredulously. "SesshoMaru-sama's your _uncle_? But you're only a hanyou!" Isamu let out an involuntary growl at the "only".

"_Inu_-hanyou," Kiki said, unusually sharp.

"I heard a lot of youkai call their father 'only' a hanyou," Shippo remarked. "Didn't generally hear them say much else, apart from the screaming."

The boy blinked and backed down as his father held a hand up.

"If we have no respect for those with their human sides, then we are no better than the humans," his wife said severely. The little girl nodded. She looked about Kiki's age, and waved at them. Hotaru and Hitomi waved back.

"That is true," Ryoichi said. "My apologies for my son's rudeness. Yes, upon the death of the old Inu No Taishou, over two hundred years ago, SesshoMaru-sama technically became Inu No Taishou, although it's not a title that's ever really been necessary, now that he no longer has a clan." Isamu couldn't help the slight wince as the bulls' words conjured up memories of Yuudai's tale, but luckily Ryoichi didn't notice. "In any case, he retains the title and respect through the quite impressive feat of still being _alive_. Perhaps you have not been exposed to the law of the jungle which prevails among the wilder youkai, but it is this: no-one is supposed to be stronger than you. If someone is said to be the strongest, then you challenge them, to prove that they are not. And whoever survives the battle becomes the next to be beaten. Someone as illustrious as SesshoMaru-sama will have had hundreds of challenges; but there are those of us who have, as it were, outgrown the law, and see it as this: he is strong. And challenging him is considered almost certain death by now. If even half the stories about what he has survived are true, then you will be easy for him to dispatch. Better to stay home and care for your family. It is a creed based on brains rather than pride."

"Amen to that," Kazuki said. "I mean, that would be a problem if SesshoMaru was _evil_, but he's not, is he? It's not like he's running a reign of terror. He's been saving lives in the south. Sounds like good leader qualities to me."

"SesshoMaru's a good person, whatever he says," Kazeko said. Mitsuko chuckled.

"I'm surprised that he's that important," Yuki commented, unwrapping some onigiri. All the small children- with the exception of Akira, who was watching the now-cooking rabbit hungrily- suddenly became magnetically attracted to her. "I mean, I know he's powerful, but do people support him out of respect, or fear?"

"We're not scared of _anyone_!" the younger boy burst out, looking insulted. His brother slapped him on the shoulder.

"Those who defer to him are from both camps," Ryoichi said. "I personally have great respect for him. After all, he was one of those who fought Naraku and helped bring about the end of the cursed jewel. Also, I have great for his strength- not his physical strength, something that is easy to come by among youkai-"

"Not that he's short on that," Kazuki remarked. "I wish I could've seen some of the battles between him and Inu-Oji-san. They sound like they were _awesome_."

"Not while they were in progress, believe me," Shippo said, a shudder rippling through the ginger fur.

"But also that he has never, as you put it, begun a reign of terror. Have you heard of InuYama?"

"Yeah," Isamu said in a clipped tone that indicated that he'd heard quite a _lot_ about InuYama. Ryoichi got the signal loud and clear and nodded sadly.

"I did not hear a large amount of what transpired there, but I heard enough," he said, "enough to make me feel sick inside. There are youkai clans that have been decimated in feuds before, of course, although it was never full-scale genocide of an entire _species_ of youkai before. Still, many higher youkai faced with such a desolate situation tend to... regress."

"Higher...?" Kazeko began, but Mitsuko answered her quickly.

"Youkai who can take on humanoid forms and think of something other than their stomachs," she explained, "Like myself and SesshoMaru-sama. These days, most higher youkai don't kill humans. There's no law against it or anything, it's just generally considered cruel, pointless and unnecessary, alongside more youkai making friends and even mates among humans. There are some 'higher' youkai who still do kill humans, but on the whole, they're generally little more than mildly brighter lower youkai who have just enough power to wear a human form."

"So 'regress' means..." Kazeko ventured.

"Returning to the mentality of the lower youkai," Yuudai confirmed. "Some who regress badly enough even shed their human forms. When faced with huge pain or suffering, all youkai feel the urge to let go of thought and memory and only eat when you're hungry and kill when you're bored."

"Sounds like what Otou-san told us about," Isamu said, "when he used to transform. Myoga-jii-san explained it. In times of danger, his youkai blood would urge him just to go full-on youkai and kill everything. Given that Otou-san's a hanyou and the youkai blood he inherited from jii-sama is, well, really powerful, it took him over entirely until Tessaiga's shield reasserted itself, forcing the youkai blood back. Is it like that- giving in to the urge to kill and kill and kill?"

"I think Okaa-san was talking about something like that once," Yuki reflected. "And face it, Inu-oji-san's one thing. If _SesshoMaru_ had regressed, face it we'd be pretty much fucked."

"That's one way of putting it," the older son chuckled.

"In any case, it's a good thing that he went for more or less the opposite," the wife said serenely. "Anyway, are planning to go to the rendezvous?"

"Rendezvous?" Haruka said, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, well, the news went out that anyone who was heading to the islands should try to go to the remains of Hakureizan," the younger son said. "Tons've youkai are gonna be there. Safety in numbers, y'know? Anyway, when winter gets too close, everyone's gonna move out together. We can all go to the islands and build new homes together."

"Sounds like a good plan," Shippo said. Ryoichi frowned.

"Unfortunately, we're running blind," he admitted. "I've heard of Hakureizan- who hasn't?- but I don't know the exact location."

"I remember," Shippo said, gnawing on a rabbit bone. Isamu wondered when he'd started eating. Akira was still stripping flesh from a leg, so he must have eaten fast. The rest of the children were licking the last grains of rice off of their hands. "I was there when it turned from a mountain to a pile of rubble. A lot of it wasn't even rock near the end- Naraku had absorbed an entire damn _mountain_. Do you have any idea how freaky it is to walk through a cave which suddenly goes soft and starts absorbing you?"

"Too bad it didn't finish," Satsuki joked, strapping Momo to her back again.

"Then if it is no bother, we will follow you," Ryoichi said.

"No problem," Isamu said. "Shippo, you cool to lead? I don't' actually know where this place is, after all."

"Pretty far north- not far from there to the sea- but on the other hand, we're fairly close," Shippo said, standing up as his mate climbed onto his back. "We may have to run a ways into the night, though."

"For the first time, i'm _really_ grateful for Okaa-san's stamina training," Haruka said. "Otherwise, I'd _never_ be able to keep up with all of these youkai without my muscles hurting even _after_ I've started moving around in the morning."

"Tell me about it," Yuki said. "When we get to Hokkaido, i'm gonna sleep forever."

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_Sorry for the wait! It took me forever to figure out how to move things on to where I needed them to be. We're actually in the run-up to the climax of the story now, although i'm not telling you exactly when that's gonna be... not because I like evil cliffies, just because I've never written ahead of what I've posted. What you see is all I've got. :P Anyway, hope you're enjoying the story, and if you've NEVER reviewed yet, please do! They make my day, they really do._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	27. Chapter 27

_**Chapter Twenty-Seven**_

"Isamu!" Kazuki yelled. "Stop!"

Isamu halted and turned to see that Kazuki had stopped some way back. Yuki, Haruka, Shippo and Ryoichi's family stopped as well. That was when Isamu realized that Mitsuko was missing.

Kazuki turned and ran back. Isamu followed him along with the others. They found Mitsuko quite a ways back, stopped by a tree, standing stock still and staring into the distance. Kiki and Hitomi were both calling her name and shaking her shoulders.

"It's a vision," Kazuki said. He reached out to shake Mitsuko's arm. "Hey? Mitsuko? Is it s vision, Mitsuko? Mitsuko?"

The tigress snapped awake at his call. "Blood ...and fire," she whispered. Kazeko got to her feet.

"Blood and fire?" she asked. "Mitsuko, what did you see? _Who_ did you see?"

"Our paths changed," she said. "They are headed towards the blood and fire. We made a decision that changed our direction. But who will burn..." she looked sorrowful and scared. "I cannot tell."

"A decision..." Haruka said, looking worried.

"Was it when we decided to go to Hakureizan?" Yuki said fiercely. "We can't go, if it was..."

"I don't know," Mitsuko said. "It could have been anything. The tiniest change. It may be nothing to do with Hakureizan. I cannot help feeling that it will not change even if we attempt to change our course."

"Then do we go on?" Kazeko asked, looking concerned.

"Visions?" Shippo asked.

"Mitsuko-san is clairvoyant," Isamu explained. "Lately, she keeps seeing a future of fire and blood."

"Can't imagine why," Kazuki muttered.

"You must come to Hakureizan," Ryoichi urged. "With so many youkai there, surely you will be safe. You mustn't risk going out on your own."

"What do we do?" Kazeko asked again. Mitsuko shook her head hurriedly.

"The vision came so late, i'm sure it was nothing to do with our decision to go," she insisted. "Something changed elsewhere, I'm sure of it. We'd better go on. Better to gamble on the safe option."

"Come on," the older son said. "Let's move, eh? No use worryin' about the future when, at the present, there's the possibility of food and being able to see people without bein' scared shitless for your life."

"Language," his mother reprimanded. He just grinned and ran.

Shippo took off as well, outstripping the boy. Within moments, they were all running once more, to a place where not a blade of grass grew, the land remembering acts of great evil that would scar it for centuries.

*********************************************************************************************************

"Didn't that thing get smashed?" Kohaku asked, staring nonplussed at the armour that SesshoMaru was tying back on. It was in one piece, as clean and perfect as if it were new.

"I have been wearing it long enough that it has absorbed a considerable amount of my youki," SesshoMaru explained. "It is capable of repairing itself and has the same immunities as I. Such things happen to any clothes worn by a youkai for any length of time."

"Makes sense," Rin said. "Oh, SesshoMaru-sama..." she dug around in her kimono and pulled out a little bag. "I think you dropped this, during the fight. The... items fell out, but I put them back in. If that's all right."

SesshoMaru was still for a second. Then, he reached out and gently picked up the bag.

"Arigatou," he said, making to stow the bag away.

"Item_s_? I mean, I think it's pretty common guess that you've still got Kagura's feather, but what _else_ is in there?" asked InuYasha, master of tact and delicacy. Kagome slapped his arm so hard that her hand singed his kimono.

SesshoMaru narrowed his eyes, glaring dangerously for a long moment. His hand clutched the bag tightly, something poking out of the hole at the bottom, like a blue petal. It had the scent of an Inu-youkai, InuYasha realized. It was familiar, yet he was sure that he'd never smelled it before.

"It is none of your concern, baka," SesshoMaru said coolly, stowing the little bag back into his armour.

"If you two are finished," Miroku said, breaking the slightly awkward silence, "are we gonna move or what?"

"Where are we, anyway?" Kohaku asked. "Seems a little familiar..."

"We're coming close to Hakureizan, aren't we?" Sango said. "I think... it seems familiar. I remember that it was pretty far north."

"We might be," Kagome said. Climbing onto InuYasha's back. Everyone saddled up, they began to move. "We came to it from the south, I think. Maybe when we get nearer, tomorrow or the next day, we'll see that shrine where Renkotsu tried to burn us to death."

"Scared me outta my mind," InuYasha grumbled. "Didya _have_ to look so dead? I thought you'd all snuffed it!"

"Well sorry for being struck down by rare and powerful poisons, being knocked out by a combination of said poison and sleeping incense, and nearly burning to death while trapped," Miroku said mockingly. "While we're at it, may I apologize for being born with a hellhole in my hand?"

"Shut up, bouzo," InuYasha snapped, "or I'll cut you a new one."

Miroku just sniggered. Sango gave a long-suffering sigh. Kagome merely smiled gently.

*********************************************************************************************************

"Stop!"

Isamu skidded to a halt on the dirt path, sniffing the air. It was long past sunset, and Kiki and Hitomi were sleeping in his arms, but Shippo had insisted that they keep moving ever since they had passed a burned-out old temple. Kazuki, Yuki and Haruka were starting to flag; strong though they were, they were human, and they were tiring and slowing. That was when Isamu had picked up youkai scents and, moments later, the order had rung out.

"What's going on?" Kazuki asked, looking around at the trees. He could only sense youki everywhere; Isamu's nose, however, identified twelve different youkai, all adults. Guards.

A tall, thin woman appeared in front of them, and then the others melted out of the trees. They all watched each other with suspicion. The woman had a scent of rabbit about her, and Isamu smelled a menagerie of other scents from the others; horse, eagle, snake, rat, monkey, boar, ram, even a couple of cats.

"Geez," he muttered. "With me, Ryoichi and Mitsuko, we've practically got the damn zodiac..."

"Silence, mongrel," the rabbit said. "Why have you brought so many humans?"

"Hey, we're not packing if it makes you feel any better," Yuki said, crossing her arms and glaring imperiously at the rabbit.

"Geez, you mean we're _all_ classed as the enemy now?" Kazuki complained. "Well, that's shit. So do we try to get past you and have to fight for it, or head back south, run headlong into the army and get slaughtered?"

"If you treat all humans as enemies, you're no better than Yamazaki," Mitsuko growled.

"There _are_ humans here," the boar pointed out.

"Yes, but they all have mates, and some even half Halfling children like these," the rabbit said, gesturing to Isamu and Kiki. "You can smell it yourselves- only one of the humans has any lasting scent of youkai about her. "Haruka blushed and Isamu moved a little closer to her. "What grudge could Yamazaki hold against the other?"

"Possibly the fact that we hold the crazy notion that youkai can be something _other_ than an enemy," Kazeko said, "although I have to say, you're doing splendidly at invalidating that belief."

"Besides, Haruka's family," Kazuki said, "And that means Isamu is too. No way in _hell_ are we letting them face this shit alone."

"Stop squabbling and let them in," Ryoichi said. "They're good kids. They'll only be an asset to us."

"Stop quibbling and let us in, prey," Shippo growled.

" 'Prey'?" Kazuki whispered in Isamu's ear.

"It's a fox addressing a rabbit whose name he doesn't know," Isamu hissed back. "What the hell else do you expect him to call her?"

"Do you have any idea who these kids are? Who their parents are?" Shippo said. "Their parents are _the_ monk and taijiya, _the_ possessed child and travelling child, _the_ miko and hanyou. The ones who fought Naraku. Half of them are kin to the Inu No Taishou, by blood or marriage. They're not sneaking in to betray us, so you can drop the damn paranoia and let us into Hakureizan. I was here when the walls turned to flesh and acid, so honestly, _prey_ doesn't give me any worry, not when it's between my family and friends, and safety."

"Let's just let them in already," one of the cats said. The rabbit had gone very white-faced as she glared at Shippo, but clearly, something in her genetics wasn't happy about staring down a large orange fox. "Two of those hanyou_ are_ dogs, I can tell a mile off. That makes them SesshoMaru's kin. I mean, it's not like there's even ten of them left, right?"

"I agree," the other cat said. "Let's just keep an eye out for the army and stop bugging youkai, all right?"

The rabbit snorted and bounded away. The others spread out again, but the eagle bowed regally to them before leaving.

"Forgive her," he said. "Her sisters were killed by scared humans. Humans themselves scare her silly now. I guess you can't blame her for being a little paranoid."

"How many people are here?" Ryoichi asked.

"Somewhere above two hundred, maybe even two fifty or more," the eagle said. "I volunteered to be a guard, so I haven't seen a lot of people, but you can smell them all once you get near. There's probably more that've appeared from other directions. Everyone's a little scared, so everyone's in pretty close-knit groups. Better hope you see someone you know, 'cause the surrounding forests have already been stripped bare of firewood."

"Thanks," Isamu said. The eagle bowed again and then, spreading his huge, dark wings, took off. Shippo started leading them onwards.

*********************************************************************************************************

"How'd we end up at the sea?" InuYasha complained, looking over the dark water.

"We had to go pretty far around that village," Sango commented, looking around. Rin leaned over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, is that-" she began, but SesshoMaru had already darted over to the sodden figure. It looked like a soldier. There were deep scratches across his cheek. Whatever had pushed him into the water had dug claws in.

"This uniform..." SesshoMaru said, sweeping his gaze over the man's stained clothes, "he is one of Yamazaki's."

Kagome knelt down and gently slapped the man's undamaged cheek. He groaned a little but did not wake. She then patted the stinging, salt-filled wound son his other cheek. He yelped in pain as his eyes snapped open.

"Konnichiwa," Miroku said. "Are you one of General Yamazaki's soldiers?"

The man stared at them with wide eyes. "You're them!" He yelled. "The youkai and the dark warriors! The survivors told us about you! You're-"

"I think that's a 'yes'," Kohaku said.

"Why are you so far north?" SesshoMaru said. The man trembled but shook his head.

"I'm telling you youkai _nothing_!" he spat.

"_Why are you so far north?_" SesshoMaru repeated, a dangerous edge to his voice that was as sharp as a blade.

"If it makes things any easier, we already knew that you were coming in ships," Miroku said. "But you were so far behind when we saw you. Even allowing for the couple of hours that we took a break for after fighting the bears, the ships should still be in sight, whether to the north or south. Yet there is nothing to be seen."

"And the currents around here carry everything southwards," Sango said. "So you must have fallen overboard north. How? No ship can move that fast."

We're not just using the wind now," the soldier whispered, crumbling under the questioning and SesshoMaru's cold glare. "We decided to use oars as well. We were moving so fast. Then we heard flashes and crashing, like thunder and lightning, and the roars of giant beasts. Hayashi-sama- he's the captain, he's been in command while Yamazaki-sama is resting his injury-"

"Fuck! He _is_ alive?!" InuYasha blurted out. The man jumped.

"Continue," SesshoMaru said, turning his glare on his half-brother.

"H-he said that we were catching up with the youkai, and we'd prepare to disembark and set up an ambush soon," he said, in a rush of words. "But then that ghost attacked..."

"Ghost?" Rin asked. She reached out and tapped the man's cheek, causing him to flinch in pain as the salt water stung at hi wound again. "A ghost did that?"

"It must have been," the man said. "We killed all of those youkai. The wolves. It pushed me overboard, but I don't know what happened after that. It must have been..." The soldier looked up at the moon. "Last night, maybe."

Kagome covered her mouth with her hands as she wet white. InuYasha wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, trying to soothe her.

"But... they're so far north..." she whimpered. "The children..." she clutched her hands over the very slight rounding of her stomach. Rin was also trembling. Sango was clutching Hiraikotsu so hard that her fists were white.

"Then we move," SesshoMaru said, "now."

No-one argued. Within moments, they were all running once more, full pelt north, leaving the man behind on the beach, clutching his cheek.

"Children?" he whispered, staring after the creatures' departing forms.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_Here you go, Saphira404! I actually have the climax and wind-down of the story already written, So once I actually GET there, the chapters're gonna flow... until then, i'm kinda having a hard time working up to it... Linking my main points and scenes is always a little hard for me. Anyone who's actually been reading this, thank you! It means so much. Please be patient. 3_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	28. Chapter 28

_**Chapter Twenty-Eight**_

It wasn't quite a mountain anymore, but it _was_ one hell of a pile of rubble, as Kazuki had commented. As Isamu and the others ran up to the jagged rocks, Isamu caught the scent of a huge number of Youkai, a fair number of humans, and even a surprising number of hanyou. There was also the scent of a lot of fire and cooking food.

"Breakfast?" Yoshinori mumbled, waking up.

"As soon as we find someone to hang out with..." Yuki said, climbing carefully over one of the scree piles.

"My thanks for leading us here," Ryoichi said. "I am going to try to find my brother. What will you do?"

"I'd be very surprised if I couldn't find _anyone_ that I knew here," Shippo said. "Good luck."

"You too," one of the sons said, as they followed their father up the mountain.

"By the way... Shippo-san..." Yuki said thoughtfully. "When you were talking to that rabbit-woman, you called our parents..."

"The Shikon No Tama, with its colourful history, and Naraku, with his, were very famous. What became of them, and who brought about their downfall, are already legends among the youkai," Shippo explained.

"'Colourful' is certainly one way of putting it," Kazuki remarked drily.

"Well, mostly red," Shippo conceded. "Anyway, the hanyou and miko of legend are obvious, as are the monk and the taijiya. The reason that Kohaku is known as the 'possessed child' also ought to be obvious. And the fact that Rin-chan- as a human child, no less- actually travelled with SesshoMaru would have made her famous enough even if he _hadn't_ gotten mixed up with Naraku, and thus the legend. Names fade pretty quickly and are easily mistaken, so people generally remember them by those monikers."

"Cool," Kazuki said. "So we can get in with pretty much any youkai on our parents' fame?"

"Probably," Mitsuko said. "I've heard that legend too."

"I can't believe that something that only happened twenty years ago is already a legend," Satsuki said.

"I know, it's- whoa."

Isamu could understand why Kazuki had cut off. He had smelled it coming, but Kazuki, as a human, had only sensed a large concentration of youki. He still probably wasn't prepared for the sight greeting them, which was dozens of bonfires, tucked in sheltered positions among the piles of rock, each surrounded by assortments of humans, hanyou and youkai.

Satsuki got off from Shippo's back and he stretched out, returning to human form.

"See anyone we know?" Kazuki said, looking around. Yoshinori sat up in Mitsuko's arms.

"Wow," he breathed. "There's _so many..._"

Shippo was sniffing around. Then he grinned.

"Ah, perfect," he proclaimed. "Just our kind of people." He picked up Satsuki and ran off. Isamu looked at the others, shrugged, and followed the Kitsune.

They found him laughing with a very... _eclectic_ group of people. Though most youkai who took human forms didn't have any noticeably youkai features, beyond the colour of their hair and eyes, these eight people around the fire were quite obviously not human. One girl had a tail. One had purple skin. There were three with animal ears, like Kiki. There was another pair- probably twins, looking at them- who had vividly striped, bi-colour hair, much like Mitsuko's, only it was green and orange. And one was just so bloody _huge_. He made Ryoichi and his bulky sons look like dwarves.

"What's he mean by 'our kind of people'?" Yuki said, staring at the little gathering. Isamu sniffed the air.

"Hanyou," he replied.

"Isamu! Guys! C'mon over!" Shippo called.

"Bloody hell, he _does_ look like that arrogant twit," one of the animal-eared women replied.

"Ah, I see you know Inu-oji-san?" Kazuki said, setting Kazeko down and flopping down by the fire. "_Damn_, am I gonna be feeling those extra hours of running tomorrow."

"I'll get out some blankets, see if we can't set them down without waking them up," Haruka said, gesturing to the younger children.

"Don't worry about it, we're not going anywhere for at least three days," The girl with the tail- which, upon closer inspection, was like a fish's. "There's a tsunami winding up. We're going to make our move between that and the first snows."

"I'm not gonna question a fish about water," Yuki said, "but isn't _our_ little camp a bit... exposed?" She had a point, Isamu could see; most of the various gathering were surrounded by rock, but theirs was open. None of the hanyou looked concerned about a tsunami.

"I think Shiori's in charge of handling that," Shippo said, jerking his thumb at the purple girl, who waved.

"We've not introduced ourselves yet, have we?" said the man with bull's horns, sounding surprisingly timid. Surprisingly because, like Ryoichi's family, he was _big_.

"Leave it to Shion to remember the manners," commented the girl who would look convincingly human if it weren't for her bright green hair. "Well, i'm Asagi. I'm an inu-hanyou."

"You're what?" Isamu said with a start. It was then that he noticed her golden eyes.

"Yeah, I know there's no actually clan anymore," she said, "but I was eleven for five centuries, so can you forgive me for being a bit out of touch? Maybe i'm you're great-times-whatever aunt or something."

"They're from Horaijima," Shippo explained.

"Oh... _ohhhhhh_," Kazuki said. Mitsuko and Kazeko looked at each other and shrugged.

"Mythical Island of immortality," Asagi said. "In actual fact, it was originally meant to be a safeguard for hanyou children so that they could grow up in peace. Time only stopped when the Shitoushin took over and needed to keep the meat fresh."

"The 'meat' being the hanyou," One of the twins explained. "He's Dai." He jerked his thumb at his twin.

"He's Roku," the twin said, mimicking the motion. "We're identical twins, as you may not have guessed if you were blind. We're fire-hanyou."

"Which explains why, as you may not have noticed even if you're not blind but merely extremely dim," Roku said, "There doesn't happen to be any wood in that fire."

There was an en masse double-take as everyone looked at the bonfire which indeed, Isamu saw, was not burning on anything.

"I'm Moegi," another girl volunteered. She wasn't large in the over-muscled way that bull-youkai were, but she seemed to simply have been built to a larger scale than normal girls. This was explained by the bear's ears sticking out of her brown hair. "Bear-hanyou."

"And i'm Ai," the littler girl with the fish tail said. "I'm a fish hanyou. Bet you never guessed." She flicked her tail and giggled.

"And this great shy lump is Shion," Asagi said, patting Shion's arm. He gave them a timid little wave. "We all spent a few centuries together on Horaijima, so we're sort of friends."

"I'm Shiori," said the purple girl. "Bat-hanyou. I can make shields, as I think you know. I can't make them as powerful as I could with the Blood Coral, but they're good enough to keep a little wind off."

"And I'm Jinenji," said the last one, the huge one. "Horse-hanyou. I grow healing plants. I don't like fighting." He showed them the large pack he was carrying, full of green leaves with the scent of medicine.

"What is it with the size-to-violence ratio?" Dai said. "I mean, Shion-kun, Moegi-chan and Jinenji-kun are all fucking _huge-_" Moegi stuck her tongue out at him "- and they're practically scared of their own shadow."

"Other end of the spectrum," Roku picked up, "You've got Ai-chan. Midget-"this time Ai stuck out her tongue "-but do you have any _idea_ how much it hurts to be bitch-slapped by a fish tail?"

"Yeah, but you love it really," Dai teased, poking his twin in the side.

"Ah, so you guys are all together now?" Shippo said.

"Yeah," Asagi said, grinning cheesily, as she sat on Shion's lap. Ai curled her tail around Roku, while Dai put his arm around Moegi. "Just kinda happened, really."

"Anyway, this is _my_ mate, Satsuki," Shippo said.

"Heya," Satsuki said, tucking blankets around her children. "These three are Hotaru, Satoshi and Momo. If you forget any of their names, they also answer to "trouble"."

"And these are InuYasha and Kagome's kids," Shippo said, "Isamu and Kiki."

"Knew they were together," Dai and Roku said in unison.

"And these're Miroku and Sango's kids," Shippo continued.

"I'm Yuki, and this is my twin, Haruka," Yuki said with a wave. "This is baka- sorry, Kazuki, our little brother, and the sleepers are Michio, our littler brother, and Hitomi, our little sister."

"And these are our cousins," Haruka added, pointing to said cousins. "Yoshinori is the older boy and Takumi's the younger. The baby is Tsukiko."

"I'm Mitsuko, not related to any of them, and this is my little brother, Akira," Mitsuko introduced herself, reaching for a blanket for Akira.

"And i'm Kazeko," Kazeko said. "Don't ask about the arm and really don't ask about why i'm here."

"Fine, just so long as you're not secretly planning to kill us all," Asagi said flippantly, "Like usagi-baka seems to think. You ran into her?"

"Rabbit youkai?" Kazuki asked. "Big thin streak of paranoia?"

"That's the one," Ai said. "She spent ages interrogating every human to come _near_ her- well, generally until their mates or children threatened her. That eagle-youkai- Shuichi, I think his name is- his mate's a human, but Usagi there didn't give him any trouble for the same reason she backed down from Shippo-kun."

"'Prey'," Yuki commented with a chuckle.

"Yeah, and when he figured out that she was scared of him, he volunteered to be a guard," Moegi said, giggling softly. "No-one likes her much, but she is incredibly perceptive. She dealt with some rogue youkai who attacked when people first started congregating here, so she became in charge of the guards."

"Hell, do we _need_ guards?" Kazuki said. "I mean, chichi-ue and the others stayed behind to fight 'em off, and I can't see them getting beat by a few humans, y'know? The army's probably gone home in buckets by now."

"Yeah, but we can't count on that," Haruka said. "For all we know, they did."

"Come _on_," Asagi said. "I remember your parents. They beat the _Shitoushin_. Humans're _nothing_ compared to them."

"We hope," Kazeko said. Then she turned to Ai. "By the way, where's the Tsunami actually coming from?"

*********************************************************************************************************

"Disembark!" Hayashi called. The men started moving down the ramps, running through the chill rain to the villages clustered around the coast. "Move quickly! Before the storm hits!"

"Gently, gently..."

Hayashi turned to see some of the monks leading several soldiers down the gantry. They were carefully carrying a stretcher carrying general Yamazaki. The man's injuries had been healing well, but the mononoke's attack had set him back. They were going to hide him in the house of the headman of the nearest village.

Satisfied that the soldiers could get themselves off of the ships and into the huts without killing themselves, Hayashi walked down the gantry to said headman's house. The old man was twisting his hands nervously.

"We're sheltered by the mountains here, Hayashi-sama," he said. "Ye'll be safe here until the storm passes."

"Have any of your villagers seen any strange travellers?" Hayashi asked. "They could have been youkai in disguise."

"Aye," the headman said. "We've seen an odd number of travellers north for this time o' year. And then Seiji saw..."

"There was a fish-lady!" A boy cried, running out of the house. "A fish-lady pulling a boat! And there was a big guy with horns like a bull, and a big girl who was even bigger'n _you_, and these two boys who were throwing a fireball at each other like it was a toy ball! It was _so cool_!"

"Seiji! Do not be fooled!" The headman admonished sternly. "Those were youkai! They are evil monsters! You should be glad that they did not spot you! You would have been killed!"

"But they _did_ see me," Seiji said, in that infuriatingly superior way of all small children. "The fish-lady gave me a fish, that big one that I brought back, remember? They were nice."

"That fish was given to you by a _youkai_?!" The headman's wife shrieked, and ran back into the house, presumably to dispose of the fish. The headman grabbed the boy by the arm and slapped him.

"Do not take gifts from youkai, Seiji!" he said angrily. "You could have cursed us! We could've died if we'd eaten that fish!"

Hayashi watched the exchange without a word. As the soldiers with the stretcher approached, he walked into the house, calling behind him, "Yamazaki-sama and I will stay here. Once the Tsunami is over, we shall move out and exterminate the youkai. Have you any idea where they are headed?"

"I... well, I don't know, really," the headman said with a shrug. The boy was wandering off, muttering under his breath and rubbing his cheek. "Where do youkai go? The forest, maybe."

"I heard somethin' from the headman's wife a village over," the woman said, reappearing with a cloud of steam from what must be the kitchen. "They say the youkai are headin' for the ghost's mountain."

"Ghosts?" Hayashi asked.

"Well, they say a couple o' decades back, there was a mountain sanctuary there called Hakureizan," she explained, "And If you prayed there, you'd be forgiven any sin. But then these murderers they executed there, their ghosts come back, see, and start killin' people! Then, a week later, the entire mountain crumbled to the ground, an' all the lakes and rivers around turned to acid 'till a miko come purify 'em!"

"Ghosts?" Hayashi said with a snort. "Probably youkai. Makes sense that it would become a meeting place for them. Once the storm has passed, could someone guide us here?"

"I'm sure someone will," the headman said, "or at least to a village nearer to the mountain."

Yamazaki, now inside the hut, laughed. Hayashi jumped; he hadn't realized that the general was awake.

"We'll have them now," he said with a cold smile. "They may be close to the sea, but they won't escape us now. We shall have them!"

Hayashi said nothing.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_Usagi means "bunny" (it's Bunny's name in the Japanese version of Sailor Moon) and it isn't the rabbit-youkai's name, it's just how those who aren't her natural predators refer to her :P_

_Asagi, Shion, Dai, Roku, Moegi and Ai are the six hanyou children from the fourth movie, _Guren No Horaijima (Fire on Horai Island). _Horaijima, in Japanese myth, is the island of immortality, and one of the five treasures of Kaguya-hime was the jewelled sprig of Horai- a branch from a tree on the island. Shiori and Jinenji are both hanyou who turned up in the manga._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	29. Chapter 29

_**Chapter Twenty-Nine**_

The rain and wind hit them like a fist.

InuYasha yelped as he was almost bowled over. They'd kept running, even as the rain had gotten heavier, but only now did they realize that the rain hadn't calmed down because it was over. It was the calm before the...

"Tsunami," SesshoMaru called. "We must find shelter before it gets bad."

"_This_ isn't bad?!" Miroku sputtered. The wind had been too strong for him and InuYasha had grabbed him before he was blown away.

"No, it'll get bad when-" Sango began, but her words turned into a scream as, suddenly, the wind was coming at them from all directions at once. Kirara howled as she was caught in the wind and thrown into the sea.

"NO! _SANGO!_" Miroku yelled, instinctively slipping from InuYasha's grip.

"Miroku!" InuYasha yelled. "_No_, dammit-"

But he was too late. Miroku, a human, wasn't strong enough to stand up to the wind. InuYasha lunged after the monk as he was flung into the air.

"InuYasha, _stay on the ground_!" SesshoMaru called. It was the last thing InuYasha heard before, flying in the air, the wind blasted him and he plunged into the sea, remembering before he blacked out only to hold on to Kagome and Miroku for dear life.

***************************************************************************************************

"Wow, it's pounding it down," Yuki commented, looking up at the large red dome that encased them. "Michio, if you do that again I'm going to hit you."

Michio stuck his tongue out at his sister and wandered away. Shiori's shield, amazingly, had held true for the past two days. They hadn't felt a drop of rain or a puff of wind, although the Tsunami sure had made a racket. The main problem was that, while they all fit inside of it, it wasn't really big enough to run around in and as a result the boys were going stir crazy. Yuki idly wondered why boys got bored so easily when girls didn't. Kiki and Hitomi, for example, had been happy telling Momo and Hotaru stories, and occasionally fiddling with each others' hair. The boys had been reduced to staring contests, seeing who could hold their breath longest, and to pick a victim and see who could drive theirs insane first.

"Can we make them calm _down_?" Takumi whined. He kept doodling in the dirt, and was clearly being driven just as mad by the other's actions as the adults were.

"I don't know. They're even bored of my Kitsune Yojutsu," Shippo complained, making a dragon dance over their heads, to absolutely no reaction from the kids.

"So get back to the stories," Mitsuko said, idly rubbing Akira's hair where he slept in her lap.

"Oh, I've got an idea!" Kazeko said. "Shippo-san, you can make your illusions appear however you want, right?"

"Want to use them to tell a story?" Shippo asked.

"Hey, that sounds cool!" Asagi said. "Here, tell us about what happened when that Naraku guy died. You know, the one that was a bastard?"

"Yeah, you were there, right?" Kazuki asked, picking up the idea. "Sounds cool."

"Lemme see..." Shippo held up his hands like a little stage. Above them, colours formed and swirled. The kids didn't look up. The swirling colours formed into a black orb.

"It was like this..." he began, then stopped, looking up. So did everyone else. Yuki wondered what he'd heard. Then she realized that it was the quiet.

"Ai-chan?" Shiori asked. Ai nodded. Shiori sighed in relief and the red dome faded away.

"Whoa," Kazuki said. "Major destruction..."

A number of the various heaps of rubble had been torn up or knocked down. Whole trees were lying on their sides. Many more heaps were looking very unstable. Isamu got up and ran off, presumably to make sure that the rest of the youkai had survived. Evidently they had, though when he returned, he reported that a lot of the remains of the mountain were in bad shape.

"This place's gonna pretty unstable 'til it's worn to the ground," Shippo said. "We _can_ still move north safely, yeah?"

"Yeah," Isamu said. "I saw that eagle searching out safe routes. They've picked one from a choice of one, it seems." He glanced up at the full moon which was now scaling the dark sky. It wasn't even midnight yet. "We're all gonna move at first light."

"Then we'll be at Hokkaido, and this'll all be over," Haruka said with a huge sigh. Isamu put his arm around her reassuringly.

"Once Otou-san and everyone get there, we can get married," he promised. Out of the corner or her eye, Yuki caught Kazuki eyeballing her and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Still, we wanna hear that story," Dai said.

"I've got a better stage now," Shippo said, looking up at the clear sky and the huge amount of empty space where the mountain used to be. "I can show you the battle like you were really there."

He raised his hands and closed his eyes. Colours began swirling in the sky again.

"Wow," Momo said. "Papa's making a big one."

"A big one" was a pretty apt description for the huge black ball that formed in the sky. As Shippo drew up his memories and power, Yuki noticed odd fracture lines, shiny globes within the globe. With a start, she realized that it was a...

"A spider!" Hitomi screamed. "Eewww!"

"Yeah, what she said," Kazeko said, staring in disgust up at the black ball. Her fist was twitching.

The other youkai scattered around the mountain could see the illusion too. They stared up at it, pointing out figures, yelling in shock and surprise. Some began laughing as they realized what it was.

More figures formed; a white cat with two figures on its back was flying towards the cloud, with a red figure alongside it. On the opposite side of the spider, Yuki could vaguely make out a tall white figure. The white one swung a sword, destroying a mass of youkai that were attacking him.

Now the whole valley was watching as the figures flew towards Naraku, cheering and screaming as the battle began. Shippo just sat there with his eyes closed, making complicated little motions with his hands, smiling vaguely. Yuki turned her attention back to Naraku as Michio yelled "They're goin' in!"

In the jubilant evening, no-one noticed the dark shapes slipping past the camp, laden with dark burdens, towards the pass through the rocks which was now the only way north.

***************************************************************************************************

Kagome blinked groggily. She shivered. She was soaking wet, and cold. She remembered clinging on to InuYasha's back as they fell after Miroku, but after that...

She blinked again and sat up. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized that they were inside a dilapidated shrine. The huge noise sorted itself out as rain and wind. The odd thing was, none of it was coming into the shrine, despite the huge hole in one wall that ran up to the ceiling. Kagome could see only white through it. With a gasp, she stood up, and nearly toppled as her legs gave way. InuYasha caught her.

"You all right?" he asked gently. "We really got tossed around out there..."

"InuYasha," Kagome said, staring at the white surrounding the shrine, "Is that...?"

"Yeah, I think he pulled us outta the sea, too," InuYasha said, following her gaze to the gigantic white dog which had curled itself around the shrine, concealing it from the tsunami. "I tellya, he's been acting _weird_ lately..."

Kagome stared at SesshoMaru for another long moment, and then knelt down and dug around in her pack. "Oh, I hope they're dry..."

"What're you lookin' for?" InuYasha asked. Kagome pulled out the small stack of paper.

"Ofuda," she explained.

A few minutes later, SesshoMaru was sitting against the wall as Miroku and the various Taijiya slowly woke up. A blue dome of holy energy had encased the shrine, powerful enough to keep the rain and the wind away. It was even a bit quieter inside the shrine, and completely dry and still.

"Why've you been acting so weird lately?" InuYasha asked bluntly. "I mean, ever since Yamazaki started up his shit, I dunno, it's like you're... totally different, really. Why? And what's it got to do with that hairpin? It smells familiar, and don't try to tell me it's not involved."

"InuYasha-" Kagome was prepared to light into him, but was shocked into silence as SesshoMaru reached into his armour, pulled out the threadbare little bag, and tipped a little blue hairpin onto his palm. Kagome saw the reddish-brown stains on the pin and realized, in revulsion, that they were bloodstains. Ancient bloodstains.

"SesshoMaru-sama..." Rin asked tentatively. "Whose... whose was it?"

SesshoMaru was silent for a long time. He seemed to be thinking something over.

"This hairpin," he finally said, "belonged to Hanako."

"Who the hell was she?" InuYasha asked. SesshoMaru smiled a cold, pained smile.

"Baka," he said, using his usual address for InuYasha, "does the name 'InuYama' mean anything to you?"

***************************************************************************************************

It was before dawn when they struck.

The first thing Isamu heard was a scream. He sat bolt upright, already awake, some deep instinct knowing that he had to be ready to run or fight. Many others had responded to a similar reflex. The source of the screaming was Mitsuko, who was staring to the south in horror.

Isamu smelt humans, and horses, and the burning scent of gunpowder, coming closer. As did every other youkai and hanyou with a working nose.

The response was instantaneous. More people screamed and yelled, those alone already running, those with family or friends waking up their companions or picking up children. They began running towards the path.

"Haruka!" Isamu yelled as Ryoichi ran past him, holding onto the hand of his wife, who was holding the still-sleepy girl. The sons were directly behind. As the massive bulls passed Isamu, he lost sight of his friends momentarily.

"Isamu-kun!"

Yuki and Haruka were pushing their way towards him. Isamu felt something smash into his throat as Michio jumped up and wound his arms around his neck. Isamu ran over to the others, grabbing up Hitomi and Kiki. Shippo had already changed, Satsuki grabbing up the children as she ran towards him. Kazeko and Kazuki were shaking Mitsuko, who continued screaming. Haruka grabbed up Yoshinori and Takumi, who had already woken up and grabbed Tsukiko.

"Mitsuko!" Kazuki yelled. "We have to move! Now!"

Kazeko picked up the whimpering Akira, who reached for his sister. She stopped screaming and grabbed him, but tears were pouring down her face.

"But which one?" she whispered. "Which?"

"Mitsuko, _come on_!" Kazuki yelled, pulling her by the arm as Kazeko ran along beside him. They joined the hordes already running. Behind him, Isamu heard a battle-cry and turned. He growled as he smelt the scent of the man on the lead horse, a scent much like Kazeko's. Yamazaki. He felt a dreadful pang of fear for what had become of his parents, but there was no time. They had to move.

They ran through the pass. Suddenly, Isamu smelled the fiery stench of gunpowder, huge amounts. His heart stopped when he noticed, concealed behind rocks so that they could not be seen from within the pass, barrels that stank of gunpowder, surrounded by piles of grenades. And a short distance away from them, men pulling out grenades, ready to set off the lot and bring the pass down on the heads of those too busy fleeing to notice.

"Yuki-chan!" he yelled, noting the only one of them who was not carrying children. "Gunners!" Yuki followed his line of sight and gave a shriek of rage. She ran up the cliff edge, flicking her wrist to bring out the hidden blade, as Shippo ran up the other side, electing not to use illusionary fox magic but the simpler yet more effective method of his teeth to remove the man's arm. The grenade fell from his limp grasp, but Satsuki reached out and grabbed it before it hit the ground. Yuki was already dropping back down to them with the other man's bomb in her hands. The entire episode had only taken a few seconds, but already they were almost the last ones left, many of the other having already passed through, running for the sea. And yet, the last ones they saw were slowing.

"We're too close to the sea and not everyone can fly!" Shippo called from his elevated position. From his back, Satsuki screamed and pointed south.

"Never mind that, _they're coming_!" She yelled. "Let's _move_! There's all sorts of fishing villages up here, we'll steal a boat if we have to!"

They ran on, reaching the back of the crowd. Yes, many were flying, but many could not and, in the darkness of the pre-dawn, it was too dangerous to swim. Isamu could see those that could fly returning from the islands in the hope of carrying the others, but there were too few, too slow. His blood ran cold. They were going to have to fight, and they were going to be slaughtered. He looked down at his little sister. Kiki was trembling and holding Hitomi, who was crying. Michio was holding so tightly that it hurt. Haruka was also trembling. Isamu walked over to her and reached out his arms a little, as far as he could holding the girls. She leaned against his side.

"Satsuki," Yuki suddenly said. "You got that guy's grenade?" she held out her hand and Satsuki, nodding, passed over the weapon. Haruka and Kazuki looked confused, but Isamu was sure that he must look terrified. He wasn't sure what most made his heart want to throw in the towel, however; the fierce determination on Yuki's face, or the pre-emptive grief on Mitsuko's.

"Ane-ue," Kazuki said sharply. "What are you doing?"

"Buying us time," she said. "Use it well, all right?"

Then she was running.

"_But which one? Which?"_

The realization sank into Isamu like a drug, numbing his thoughts. Slowly at first, his movement speeding up, he put down Kiki and Hitomi, and pried Michio's hands from his neck. Kazuki, judging by the look on his face, was thinking the same thing. Haruka tremblingly put down Yoshinori and Takumi.

"Go on ahead," Isamu said, and then ran after Yuki. He vaguely registered Haruka and Kazuki following as the thin rim of trees surrounding the cursed mountain flew past, and they were within view of the pass.

Yuki was fast, almost as fast as any youkai, Isamu knew. She was already running into the pass, a grenade in either hand. Isamu heard the distant yells of the incoming armies.

"_YUKI_!" Haruka screamed.

Yuki turned her head and flashed them a devilish smile. She slid her thumbs under the pins of the grenades. The men were within view now, Yamazaki at the lead, raising his sword. Isamu began to run again.

"YUUUUKIIIIII!" he yelled. This time, she didn't look back. She looked Yamazaki straight in the eye as he drew closer.

Straight into the heart of the pass.

Isamu saw, as if in slow motion, the pins fall to the ground as she flung the grenades into the huge piles of explosives on either side.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_Hanako means "flower child"._

_Thanks to Kawaichan for her kind comments! I have to say, I totally agree with you. The final chapter felt a little odd, a little anti-climactic...I know Takahashi-sensei is capable of much better. Still, i'm highly anticipating her next series! (Although maybe one a little shorter? Collecting this one's gonna break my wallet, on top of _Meitantei Conan_ T_T)_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	30. Chapter 30

_**Chapter Thirty**_

Kagome sat up with a start. Had she heard a noise? Thunder, perhaps? She didn't know. There was no echo of the sound in the quiet temple.

Perhaps it was the silence that had woken her.

Kagome sat up and shivered as the cold hit her. She looked up, through the hole in the ceiling of the old shrine. The sky was silver. There was no rain, no wind. She stood up and slowly walked out of the shrine.

InuYasha and SesshoMaru had already noticed the end of the Tsunami. As ever, SesshoMaru was perched on the roof of the battered shrine. InuYasha was standing further away on the small island, near the beach, staring at the distant and empty skyline, remembering a time when it was not so empty. Or perhaps thinking of the things SesshoMaru had spoken of, quietly, among the rain and the wind. Of a world long gone.

Kagome peeled away one of the ofuda that had shielded the shrine from the storm and let it fall to the ground. Like a sleepwalker, she wandered across the island, noting how most of the vegetation had been uprooted or drowned. And yet, there was a flower still alive.

She hardly noticed how cold it was as she knelt down next to the tiny pink flower. She reached out to touch its frozen petals. They should not flourish this late in the year, surely? She carefully cupped her hands around the flower, as if warming it. It made her think of Hanako. The "flower child".

She wondered when SesshoMaru had changed, that he'd talk of memories that clearly caused him so much pain, especially to _InuYasha_. Maybe it was Kagura's influence. Maybe it was Rin. Thinking of Hanako explained a lot of why SesshoMaru protected Rin...

Her fingers froze on the stem as something drifted down and settled onto the flower. Something tiny and white.

A snowflake.

She looked up at the silver sky as, slowly, more tiny white flakes began to fall, spiralling down to the earth. After the noise of the storm, this silent snow seemed eerie. There was not even any wind. There was only silence.

She looked back down at the flower. A drop of water joined the melting snowflake. Surely it couldn't be raining? But something freezing slipped down Kagome's cheek, and she realized that she was crying.

"Kagome?" InuYasha said softly, instantly appearing at her side. She shivered, and he wrapped his warm arms around her. Still, she couldn't stop crying. The more snow she saw, the sadder she felt.

"What's wrong, Kagome?" he asked. "It's only a light snow. We still have time to get to Hokkaido..."

"I know," Kagome gasped, struggling to hold back the powerful urge to cry. "It's just... I don't know what will be waiting for us there. I feel so scared. I feel like something might have happened to them..."

Inside the shrine, though Kagome didn't know it, Sango was crying too. Miroku held her.

"It w s only a nightmare," he said. "Calm down... was it so bad? What was it about?"

"Y-Yuki and Haruka," Sango gasped, trying to control the powerful sobs. "I saw them as children. And they were running away from me. I could never see both of them at once. I was starting to forget if there was one of them or two..."

"It's all right," Miroku said, rubbing her back soothingly. "They're as tough as their Okaa-san. I'm sure they're all right. Listen, the tsunami's over. Soon, we'll see them again. Everyone will be all right. We have to hold onto that."

"You're right," Sango muttered, regaining control. "We have to move. Once I see them safe, I'll be fine. I'm just worried about them..."

"InuYasha and Kagome are already up," Miroku said. "I'll see how Kohaku and Rin are..."

"He's right," Sango whispered again, to herself. "They'll be all right. He's right. I hope he's right..."

***************************************************************************************************

_**Some hours earlier**_

Yamazaki opened his eyes the second the wind died. He hadn't been sleeping. The fire in his gut was too strong for that. But he already knew that his days were numbered. Before they ran out, he had to see that white bastard burn... and that little bitch...

"Hayashi," he called. The younger man appeared almost instantly. He looked pale and worried. Perhaps he was catching an illness. The bad weather may have been good for sailing, but it was no good for health. "Wake and rally the men. The tsunami is over. We move as soon as possible, understood?"

"Of course, Yamazaki-sama," Hayashi said, bowing out.

An hour later, Yamazaki had bullied the captains into giving him a horse, and a damn fine horse it was too. Hayashi said he'd ride another. Despite the burning pain in his stomach, Yamazaki felt the dark glee of knowing that, soon, justice would be done.

"Are the grenadiers already in place?" he asked, as Hayashi rode up beside him.

"Yes, Yamazaki-sama," he confirmed. "The youkai who fight will be shot, and those who flee will be crushed. We will have them." And yet, there was an odd undercurrent to Hayashi's words.

"Are you worried that the plan will fail, Hayashi?" Yamazaki asked. Hayashi quickly shook his head.

"Of course not, Yamazaki-sama," he said, "Your idea is perfect. Turning their own tricks against them. The wet weather does not agree with me, that is all."

"I hope you'll be well enough to fight, then!" Yamazaki replied jovially.

It took some hours to reach the ruins of the holy mountain. By the time they drew near, it was past midnight.

"Order the men to load their guns," Yamazaki said. The captains rode off to obey. The men were well-trained, and excited to get a proper battle against the monsters. They soon formed into organised ranks.

"Yamazaki-sama, should we not wait for daylight?" Hayashi asked. Yamazaki shook his head. The pain was blazing worse than ever. He would not wait for dawn, because there was a chance, he knew, that he would not reach it.

"They will likely smell us," he said. "We must waste no time. Forwards!"

He spurred his horse on, through the piles of rock and rubble, fallen trees giving way to bare land. From the sky, it could be seen that no vegetation grew in a perfect circle around the destroyed mountain. A mountain from which a multitude of voices was rising.

"They have noticed us! Top speed! Send up the signal!" he called. A man fired his gun into the air. The voices grew louder, but further away.

Yamazaki crested a hill to see them fleeing in masses, towards the small pass through the rubble where his men were waiting. As he rode down the hill, sending the last of them fleeing faster, he saw a face through the crowd: Kazeko. With an angry yell, he chased after the distant figures. They vanished quickly. Any second now, the men would set off the explosives, crushing or trapping the youkai. Just like what had happened to him.

There was no explosion. Yamazaki rode on through the rubble, the soldiers and officers on horses on his tail, the foot soldiers behind them. Most of the men on horses were steering their horse with one hand and raising their gun with the other. As they saw the trees begin again through the rocks, they realized why the explosives had not been set off.

The men lay in pools of blood by the piles of bombs and gunpowder. In between the two huge piles stood a girl with hair as short as a boy's, wearing the clothes of the dark warriors.

She was smiling the most disturbing smile that Yamazaki had ever seen.

She had a grenade in each hand.

Yamazaki dew his sword and abandoned all thought. He did not think about what was most likely about to happen, what the consequences would be, what the chances of him reaching her first were. The feeling was peaceful, in a way. His shirt felt heavy and damp. He swung his sword at the she-warrior.

She slipped the pins from the grenades.

She was still smiling as they hit the explosives.

***************************************************************************************************

In the noise and confusion, the screaming and fear, no-one heard the sound of shattering. Yuki did. It resonated through her entire skull as she saw them.

Why did she think she could bury this? That she could forget it? That it would simply go away, fading into nothing? It felt like a stain in her mind. A stain that she couldn't wash away. The more she tried, the bigger it grew. And it was breaking her.

They were going to die. They would all be slaughtered.

Yuki looked over her little brothers and sister, her cousins, her friends. She looked, for a long time, at Haruka and Isamu. Haruka was crying, Isamu comforting her.

She was still holding the grenade that she'd taken from the soldier.

She couldn't let them die.

That was when it broke.

"Satsuki," she said, a stupid, dangerous plan forming in her head. "You got that guy's grenade?" She barely felt the heavy explosive as it was tentatively pressed into her hand. She only thought of how she would do it. She couldn't think about the consequences.

"Ane-ue," Kazuki said, his voice sharp but distant, "what are you doing?"

Yuki couldn't bring herself to say. Instead, gripping the grenades, tensing her muscles to run, she said, "Buying us time. Use it well, all right?"

She ran. Pushing herself as hard as she could, running faster than ever before, she headed back towards the distant noises of yelling men and clattering hooves. She couldn't remember going this fast before. She almost laughed. These were probably the kind of results Okaa-san's athletic training was aiming for. But it wasn't training that pushed her onwards, made her forget the burning in her lungs and legs.

She stopped when she saw the two piles of explosives. Walking slowly now, she stood directly between the two piles. Yamazaki had probably wanted to provoke a landslide, to crush or trap them.

Oh, there'd be a landslide all right. She waited as the calls drew nearer.

"_YUKI_!"

That was Haruka's voice, wasn't it? A voice just like her own. Yuki grinned wider. She and Haruka had always been so close, as if they were two halves of the same person. She wasn't going to disappear. Not today. Not ever.

She turned to flash a smile at her sister. Isamu and Kazuki were running, too. Resting her eyes on him for a second, Yuki turned around, to see Yamazaki riding at her. She'd never seen the man before, but she knew. Surely horses were faster than that?

She slid her thumbs under the pins, raising her arms. Yamazaki raised his sword.

"YUUUUKIIIIII!" Isamu yelled. Yuki didn't look back. His voice was still ringing in her ears as she looked Yamazaki in the eye and, still smiling, flicked out the pins and flung the grenades into the two piles of explosives.

Only at the last second did she close her eyes.

***************************************************************************************************

The world exploded in fire, a gaping hole in the mountain crumbling and collapsing, pouring over the path and those soldiers who had earned the glory of leading. Yamazaki was the first to fall, the fire engulfing him as if he were falling into hell- his rightful place, no doubt. Something was flung from the blast, high into the air, falling amidst the rain. Red rain, issuing from a torn and burnt corpse. Isamu leapt and caught her, wincing at the unnatural way that her body lolled in his arms.

Haruka let out a strangled sob as Isamu gently laid Yuki down. Kazuki heard a gasp behind him and saw Michio and Hitomi staring. He quickly pushed them into the trees. They must have come back to see what had happened to Yuki...

But they didn't need to see this. Isamu and Haruka didn't need to see this. But Kazuki got the feeling that Yuki needed them to.

Tears poured down Haruka's cheeks as she knelt next to her twin, numbly absorbing the burnt clothes and torn flesh. There was blood everywhere, blood identical to her own. Every cut she saw, she felt tearing into her. Tears dribbled off of her chin as blood dribbled from Yuki's mouth. Yuki fought for breath and opened her eyes, to stare at Isamu and Haruka. Yuki's gaze stopped on Isamu and something Haruka saw in her twin's eyes broke her.

"Everyone... safe?" Yuki said. Haruka began to sob aloud at Yuki's torn and broken voice. Eyes bright, face empty, Isamu forced himself to nod. Yuki managed a jagged smile. "Good..." it was less a word, more an exhalation. She closed her eyes as she coughed, thick black lifeblood pouring from her. "Hey... you two..." she managed. "Name... one a'... your kids... after me... alright?" Haruka sobbed even harder, shaking her head as she closed her eyes, to hide the truth as she tried to lie to herself and her sister.

"No," she said, "You're coming. We'll patch you up. You'll live in Hokkaido with us. Don't go, Yuki! You can't! Please..." she trailed off, now crying too hard to speak. Yuki coughed harder, and Isamu realized that she had tried to laugh. His heart shattered as he looked into Yuki's face, so much like Haruka's, and knew what Yuki knew: she would never see Hokkaido.

"I'm sorry... I... lied to you... both..." Yuki said, looking up at him. "The truth is... I always... as long as... Haruka has..." she drew a shallow breath, fighting to continue. "But you... loved her. And... I wanted... you two... to be... happy... so... I lied..." she closed her eyes, husbanding her remaining strength to say what must be said. "I never told you... that I always... loved you, too... Isamu..." Yuki fell silent, her last rattling breath fading forever. Haruka gasped.

"No," she said, reaching for her twin's mouth and neck, feeling for breath, a pulse, _anything_... "No... no... NO! YUKI!! _NOOOO!!!"_

Haruka screamed as she watched herself die, screamed her pain to the heavens above. Her chest burning, she screamed her pain to a world that kept on turning. Why did it? Her world had ended! She had _died_! So why was that damned sun still daring to rise, to grace a world where Yuki was dead with light? How dare the wind still blow to caress her corpse? _How dare it?!_

She felt Isamu's hand against her shoulder and turned, flinging herself against his chest as if being unable to see Yuki's corpse meant that it wasn't real. Yet she could still feel it, as if she had gone into the fire with her sister; her chest burning as if it were on fire, yet the cold numbness as if every drop of blood had poured from her veins. Isamu felt Haruka's pain as keenly as if it were his own as he stared at Yuki's corpse, yet he did not see it. What he saw had happened long ago, happy times long gone in places to which they could never return. He saw both of them, Yuki and Haruka- when had they _not _been together?

_His earliest memory- little girls' faces, giggling, dangling little toys and cuddling him as he lay in his mother's arms..._

_Chasing them in a childish game, Kazuki too, yet Yuki suddenly tripped Kazuki and Haruka had been too busy laughing to run when Isamu caught up to her..._

_They'd trained together, such perfect unison in fighting that it was hard to believe anything ever defeating them..._

_Dancing with Haruka at the party... had he really seen Yuki watching them, with a look in her eyes that he hadn't understood- or had he known, and just ignored?_

_Haruka in the moonlight, by the little lake... they had been all alone, their first kiss, and yet, perhaps they'd both felt it... the ghost of Yuki, by Haruka's side, always..._

_Yuki and Haruka... the twins, each, it seemed, half of the same person... always together... always together, until..._

Yet now Haruka was so broken, it was as if they'd both died. How could one exist without the other? How could he exist without either? A single tear slid from his face to Haruka's hair, and another, and another, all mingling with Haruka's. They both cried, in the light of dawn, absorbing each other's tears as a balm that soothed the burns and filled their veins once more. And in that dawn, a dawn stained with blood and tears, Yuki alone smiled, the peaceful smile of eternity.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_Speaking of dying, Saphira404, here you go..._

_*sniffle*_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	31. Chapter 31

_**Chapter Thirty-One**_

Kiki sat on the cold sand, shivering. The rumblings and explosions had stopped. And she could smell so much blood. She put her arms around Hotaru, who was holding Momo and Satoshi- who, for once, had no complaints about his sisters hugging him. They could smell the blood, too. They were scared.

It was Michio and Hitomi who came out of the forest first. Yoshinori ran over to his friend, and then stopped. Michio was staring at the ground as tears dribbled down Hitomi's cheeks.

"Michio?" Yoshinori asked tentatively. "What- what happened?"

Hitomi knelt down on the sand, putting her face in her hands as she sobbed. Kiki let go of the Kitsune-hanyou as she ran over to comfort her friend. Michio's hands clenched into fists.

"Onee-san," he said. "Yuki-nee-san... she..." but he seemed unable to say anything more. He didn't have to. What he did say was enough for Mitsuko. She gasped out a sob and curled up where she was sitting, hugging Akira and crying. Kazeko trembled and went white, as if unable to believe it. She held Tenseiga close, for the comfort it gave, but could not help crouching down as she realized what must have happened to Yuki.

Satsuki suddenly ran up to them. "They found some boats!" she said. "They're bringing them just now..." her voice trailed off and the smile faded from her face as she saw the crying girls. Michio punched his curled fist into a tree. Yoshinori trembled as he fought not to cry.

"What happened?" she asked.

Behind her, Shippo swam up, pulling a boat by a piece of rope, inside which Dai and Roku were rowing. Jinenji was carrying another two boats, wading through water which only came up to his waist. Asagi and Moegi were rowing a fourth boat, also being pulled by Ai. Shion was also carrying a fifth boat, the water coming up to his chest. They pulled the boats to land, at first grinning to see that their friends weren't dead yet- but they quickly reassessed that point when they saw their faces.

"Where's Isamu-kun, Kazuki-kun and the twins?" Shippo asked, looking unusually stern.

"I'm here."

Kazuki slowly walked out of the forest, alone. Everyone instantly turned to question him, but stopped. His face was completely blank, completely pale and expressionless.

"Isamu-kun and Haruka-Ane-san are back there, in the forest," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "With... with Yuki."

"Yuki-chan," Mitsuko whispered, tears spilling over her cheeks. She put down Akira, who shuffled over to Takumi and Tsukiko for comfort, and walked over to Kazuki. "Kazuki-kun..."

Kazuki looked down, his long bangs hiding his face. Then he knelt down, crossing his arms over his chest as if trying to hold something in. His shoulders shook as the tears that he couldn't hide dripped from his chin.

"I should have told them," he said, his voice shaking violently. "I figured it out a long time ago, but... she told me she was fine. She m-made me swear to tell no-one. But I should have made her tell them. I should have realized how much it was hurting her. I know she would have killed me for it, but... I should have realized. It wasn't worth it. Not this. I..."

"Nii-san... what do you mean?" Michio asked, tears welling up. Mitsuko knelt down and put her hands on Kazuki's shoulders.

"Despite everything, they were so very alike..." she said softly. "_Too_ alike."

"What does she mean?" Satsuki asked. Shippo looked sad.

"You never noticed?" he said quietly. "Once I saw them again... I guess it was obvious because I was half-looking for it, when Kazuki said he was going to be Isamu's brother-in-law. I looked at their faces, trying to figure out which of the twins was in love with Isamu... and it was both of them."

"Yuki-san... she's dead?" Shiori gasped.

"It's my fault," Kazuki sobbed. "She swore me to silence, but... I should have... I..."

"Don't blame yourself, Kazuki-kun," Mitsuko said. "She chose her path long ago. She loved Haruka-chan and Isamu-kun so much; she wanted them to be together. She wanted them to be safe. Now they can be, and we can remember her. She saved everyone on that island. They'll remember. Now she's where she won't hurt any more. And one day, the three of them will be together again. Don't blame yourself..."

She trailed off, looking to the sky. Everyone else looked up as well. Gently, silently, floating to earth, were tiny white snowflakes. The first landed one Kazuki's head, as lightly as a kiss from a big sister would land on a sleeping baby. The tears seemed to Kazuki to be freezing on his cheeks.

"Don't blame yourself," Mitsuko said again. "She doesn't."

They sat there in silence for a long time, watching the snow fall.

*********************************************************************************************************

Haruka stared at her feet as she walked through the forest with Isamu. It was lucky he was a hanyou and didn't feel the cold, because otherwise he'd be freezing in the cold air. His inner and outer shirts were both wrapped around Yuki, hiding her maimed form from view. Ashe could still barely bear to think it. Her thoughts were only beginning to thaw and move.

How long? How long had her sister been suffering so? She couldn't comprehend that kind of pain. She closed her eyes as she tried to think of how much it would have hurt if Isamu had fallen in love with Yuki instead of her. She wondered if, in Yuki's place, she would have done the same.

She wondered what she'd tell her parents.

"Haruka..." Isamu eventually said. "This... I feel guilty. Like it's my fault. And," he said as she opened her mouth, "I know you do too. But we can't blame this on anyone. Yuki... I wish she'd said something, even if it was only to be rejected. I wish she'd shared her pain. I wish this hadn't happened..."

"It doesn't change anything," Haruka said, tears welling up in her eyes. Would they ever dry? "She's still gone forever."

At that moment, something cold and soft touched her cheek. Haruka touched her hand to it and saw a flash of white before there was only cold water trailing down her finger. She looked up at the sky, tears running back into her hair. Slowly, snowflakes filled the sky. Like a child seeing her first snow, Haruka reached out her hands to the sky, feeling the cold drops coat her fingers and melt. Isamu was also staring at the sky in silence.

"_Yuki_," he whispered. "Snow."

Haruka couldn't stop crying, but it felt different. Yuki... she was telling them something, wasn't she? She'd saved them. She'd protect them. She wasn't gone.

"She's not gone," Haruka said quietly, and then louder. "She's not gone. Never." She looked over at Isamu and found that she could smile, however weakly. The bloody bundle in his arms was nothing to do with Yuki. "Yuki and I are twins. We've been a part of each other since before we were born. So she's still a part of me. A part of _us_. Forever."

"Forever," Isamu agreed, leaning over to kiss her forehead. Returning to silence, they turned and walked towards the sea.

*********************************************************************************************************

Hours later, the dust had settled, but a few rocks still slid and fell as new figures appeared.

"What the fuck?"

InuYasha pulled his sleeve up over his nose and coughed as the overwhelming scent of blood and death hit him hard. Even SesshoMaru wrinkled his nose at the scent. Sango peered down at the mess in shock, but Kagome and Rin couldn't bear to look.

"This armour... aren't they Yamazaki's soldiers?" Kohaku asked, examining a bit of a body. "What the hell happened to them?"

"From the looks of it, what happened to them back home... only much, _much_ bigger," Miroku said, raising his hand and beginning to mutter sutras for the dead.

InuYasha tentatively sniffed around, trying to ascertain whether or not Yamazaki was there and therefore dead. He couldn't pick out the man's blood-scent among the mess, but he did catch one that was heart-stoppingly familiar. Without a word, he ran through the rubble and blood until he reached a spot near the treeline.

"So much gunpowder," SesshoMaru commented, appearing nearby. "The explosion that destroyed the mountain's remains must have been here..."

InuYasha hardly heard him. He knelt down and tossed a few stones away, sifting through the rubble, until he came to something flat and hard, with jagged edges.

He instantly recognized it as a piece of taijiya armour. Though it was scorched almost black, there were still a few tiny patches of yellow.

"InuYasha?" Sango called. "What's wrong?"

InuYasha caught SesshoMaru's eye for a second, before rapidly shoving the piece of armour into his haori. It was a false alarm. It had to be.

*********************************************************************************************************

The boats were silent as they were rowed to Hokkaido. Only Isamu, Kazuki and Haruka had sat in the leading boat, the one carrying Yuki. The others split up among the other boats, Ai swimming, happy even in the frigid water. The whole time, snow fell softly.

There was no sign of any living creature when they hit land. However, after trekking some way into the island, they heard a call.

"Isamu-kun? Is that you?"

"Ryoichi?" Isamu said, looking up. The bull and his older son were running up to them.

"Kami, we thought you'd all been slaughtered!" the son cried. "What the hell happened? What was that explosion? Where's that bastard Yamazaki?"

"Yamazaki's dead," Kazuki said, "And most of his army too, I'd wager. At least, judging by the fact that Yuki brought whatever was left of the mountain down on their heads."

"She did what?" Ryoichi said. "Where's-" he stopped, narrowing his eyes on the bloodstained wrap in Isamu's arms. "Oh, Kami..."

"We're all safe now," Haruka said. "Thanks to her."

"I'm gonna go tell people," the son said. "We've built up a good chunk of a village so far..."

"We're going to build a shrine," Shippo said. "She needs somewhere to rest."

"Of course," Ryoichi said. "There's a patch a bit further inland that no-one's been building on yet. Just cut down the trees and there should be room..."

They started walking as Ryoichi talked about how the building was going. Already, the skeletal structures of what was looking more like a small city had sprung up. There was the constant _crash_ of trees felled by claws, and everywhere were youkai either lifting whole logs or running their claws along them to shave them down into buildable planks. So far north, however, most people were just building log cabins. And it all fell still and silent as they appeared- or rather, as they saw or smelled the remains of Yuki, huddled in Isamu's arms.

There was silence as everyone stared at Isamu. He looked down at Yuki and then, without looking up, said, "The army isn't coming for us anymore. They never will again. It's thanks to Yuki. Her s... her sacrifice saved us all." His voice broke on the word "sacrifice", but even so, his words resonated in the silence, as loud as the storm, yet crisp and clear. It seemed that everyone on the island must have heard. It seemed that everyone in the _world_ must have heard. And, slowly, they all bowed.

Ryoichi's family was first. They all turned to Yuki and then knelt down, touching their heads to the cold ground, in gratitude to the human girl who had saved them all. The eagle- Shuichi- was next, spreading his wings, then curling them around his own kneeling form, his mate gently pressing their young son down as she knelt herself. Then, like a ripple, every youkai, hanyou and human on the island pressed together and knelt, carpeting the ground with reverent beings. As they all knelt to Yuki, the snow fell again, gently drifting onto their heads and shoulders, a soft caress, a promise to protect. They all moved aside, leaving a path to the empty land that Ryoichi had spoken of, where, before a week was up, a magnificent temple would be erected, surrounded by small huts. And it was in front of that hut that the fire would be allowed to claim Yuki once and for all, turning her physical remains to ash, and what would be left was the memory, blazing vividly in everyone on the island, and inside the temple, a painting.

"Can I have some paper?" Takumi asked tentatively, pulling his little brush and pots of paint out of the little bundle in his kimono shirt.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_Sorry this one took so long. 'Tis the season of practice exams here *sobs*. _

_Thanks to Sapgira404 and Catbaker for reviewing. Would it sound mean to say that i'm glad that scene made you cry? Because to be honest, it made me cry too..._

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	32. Chapter 32

_**Chapter Thirty**_

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	33. Chapter 33

_**Chapter Thirty**_

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	34. Chapter 34

_**Chapter Thirty**_

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	35. Chapter 35

_**Chapter Thirty**_

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic. ^_-


	36. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

That painting's still there today, in a shrine on Hokkaido, five hundred years after it was painted, almost as long after its mortal artist's time ran out.

What, does that seem like a kinda random ending? No happily ever after? Be serious. How often do they happen? Besides, if I told you everything that happened after that, I'd be talking for years. Because everything happened after that. Five hundred years, for example. Even the stories that seem to end at logical times aren't ending. Things happen afterwards, things that you never get told because they aren't as interesting. But I suppose I can give you the highlights.

Yeah, parents and kids were reunited. There was crying, and hugging, and "I can't believe it's you!"s exchanged, the latter mainly with Shippo. And eventually, these gave way to "Where's Yuki?"s. There was more crying. They never really forgave themselves, I guess. Isamu and Haruka, I mean. They still remember. They go back to that shrine every year.

We've still got relatives up there. Sango and Miroku, Rin and Kohaku- their mortal lives ran out eventually, of course, as did those of many of their descendants, but soon enough, pretty much everyone on Hokkaido had youkai blood. By then, youkai were mere legends. From something everyone feared, we became something children only knew of from their parents' warnings and had never seen, and then creatures of old folk's tales. Fairy Tales, Myths, Legends. Why do people never wonder about where they came from?

Most of us have emigrated back to the mainland by now, I believe. InuYasha and Kagome carefully watched dates, and made a surprise appearance at Sota's High School entrance ceremony. Shippo and Satsuki ended up travelling the world. Shippo's become quite a famous stage magician a few times, but of course he had to pull one hell of a vanishing act every few years. SesshoMaru, not really unexpectedly, has made a killing in business investments. Part of it, I suppose, was his sister-in-law's tip-offs as to what was gonna be big. It helps that this means he's moving in circles which make it easier, on the sly, to get new documents every couple of decades to testify that he can't be older than forty, and people don't ask if you pay them enough.

Kazuki and Mitsuko are still around too, I think. Last I heard, they were making some kind of independent documentary on endangered species of India. Like tigers, probably. I could go through everyone else, the descendants- youkai and mortal- of everyone, but it really would take forever, and i'm trying to end the story here, where it ended when it was told to me.

Like I said, Otou-san and Okaa-san come back to the shrine every year, and I usually come with. After all, Yuki-oba-san is my namesake.

The painting's really beautiful, by the way. She's dressed like the Tenn'yo in the storybooks (Though I have it on very good authority that they can be real bitches), and she's standing on some loose stone with her arms outstretched, palms up. In each hand is a little fireball. Snow is falling, gathering around her feet, on her shoulders, and in her hair. And on her face is a smile of pure serenity.

I guess she got a happy ending. It's a little sad to think that things have to be that way, but really, for there to be a happy ending, there has to be an ending. But doesn't mean that there can't be happiness.

_Sengoku O-Togi Zoushi_. Maybe not happily ever after, but happily for long enough.

~Yukiko

_**The End**_

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

_I'm sorry that this took forever! I'd thought that maybe I'd flesh out the ending a little more, but in the end, I never had time, and unless I get this out now, I'm going to forget. So… I hope it doesn't seem that clumsy. ^_^;_

_Anyway, thanks for reading. Please leave a comment!_

InuYasha is the property of Takahashi Rumiko-Sensei, and I claim no ownership of any of it. All couples not involving original characters will be strictly canon. Aside from Haruka, Yuki and Kazuki, I made up all of the kids, though since birthdates other than Kazuki's were never really stated in the manga, nor names, I've made these up as well. This fanfic will make little sense if you have not read the entire manga, and I'm afraid that to read the last twenty or so volumes you will have to (at the time of writing) venture into the internet, but I strongly suggest that you do buy the Tankoban volumes for yourself, so that Takahashi-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with her imagination. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the fic. ^_-


End file.
